Energy freeze ‘demands’ and ‘needless’ A&E deaths

Daily Record

The Daily Record leads with the latest on soaring energy prices. In a poll of its readers, the paper says that 82% backed an urgent freeze in energy bills. The paper says 12 million homes may not be able to meet the rise to £3,549 a year.

Daily Express

The Scottish Daily Express reports health secretary Humza Yousaf and the Scottish government have been criticised by opposition parties for allowing the NHS reach record A&E waiting times. New statistics from Public Health Scotland showed that in the week ending August 21, 3,159 patients waited more than eight hours to be seen, while 1,287 waited more than 12 hours, the worst figures on record.

Herald

Mr Yousaf has warned the NHS will face a “really challenging” winter, according to The Herald. He said he expected the cost-of-living crisis to add to the usual seasonal pressures experienced by the health service and he would soon be updating MSPs on winter contingency plans for the NHS.

Unions have warned bin strikes could run till November after fresh talks with the deputy first minister to resolve the council workers pay dispute failed, reports the Scottish Daily Mail.

Edinburgh Evening News carries news of a pub daubed with ‘scab’ graffiti just hours after staff at the venue were seen picking up litter that had piled up as a result of the bin strike. The paper says Biddy Mulligans, a popular Irish bar in the heart of the historic Grassmarket, may have been targeted by the vandals overnight.

The official inquiry into the Edinburgh tram project is due to cost the same amount of money as the investigation into the Iraq war, says the i newspaper. The inquiry will have cost the public purse £13,100,812 by the end of this financial year, according to a detailed projection provided by Transport Scotland.

Metro

The Metro leads with a tribute to Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s final leader who helped bring the Cold War to an end. News broke on Tuesday evening that Mr Gorbachev had died aged 91 after a long illness.

Scotland’s population is projected to fall by nearly 900,000 over the next 50 years, according to The Scotsman. The independent Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) found that Scotland would see growth of 0.9% per year between 2028-29 and 2071-72, compared with overall UK growth of 1.4% during the same period.

The Times Scotland says SNP ministers have voiced their opposition to Liz Truss’s plans to sign off new oil fields in the North Sea, claiming they offer no solution to the energy price crisis and will instead accelerate global warming. On Tuesday the Scottish government reiterated its rejection of oil exploitation and insisted renewables were the answer to the power emergency.

Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph leads on a report by former detective chief inspector David Spencer on the state of policing. Mr Spencer, who is now head of crime and justice at the Policy Exchange think-tank, called for a radical shake-up of forces including wider use of existing powers to sack failing chief constables, the paper reports. Policy Exchange finds the public feel officers are “distracted” from solving crime by “woke causes”.

A former US State Department official has insisted the world “needs to get used to Scotland as an international actor”, reports The National. The paper says the remark from Antonia Chambers, who has advised presidents and other policymakers in the US, is revealed in the second edition of Stephen Gethins’s book Nation to Nation: Scotland’s Place in the World, which is due for release next month.

The Courier carries reports of a Dundee student who almost died from blood poisoning after struggling to get a dentist appointment during the pandemic. Nick Whelan, 20, developed deadly sepsis when an abscess in his mouth went untreated for six months. He was put in an induced coma with a ventilator and says he fears people may lose their lives without urgent action.

Press and Journal

A long lost marble bust that was found being used as a doorstop for a shed could help fund the revamp of a listed building in the Highlands, according to The Press and Journal. The bust of Sir John Gordon was made by French artist Edme Bouchardon in 1728, and estimated to be worth about £1.4m.

The Evening Telegraph reports former footballer Duncan Ferguson is interested in speaking to Dundee United about a return to Tannadice as replacement for head coach Jack Ross, who was sacked on Tuesday.

The Evening Express says a pensioner has been put off going on holiday after a “long, harrowing journey”. David MacDonald said his holiday was ruined after Aberdeen passengers on a Tui flight were “dumped” in Edinburgh with no way home.

The Scottish Sun reports that the Duchess of Sussex was “ridiculed” by Nelson Mandela’s grandson for saying she had been likened to the anti-apartheid hero. The paper says that Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela said overcoming 60 years of oppression in South Africa “can never be compared” with marrying a “white prince”.

Daily Star

The Daily Star of Scotland says that “the worlds biggest diva has revealed her shock at being labelled a massive diva by the world’s other biggest diva”.