The Metro reports that Liz Truss has said she will not allow a second Scottish independence referendum if she becomes the next prime minister. The favourite to be prime minister said the SNP “should be focusing on delivering for the Scottish people and fixing the mistakes they have made”.
The Scotsman reports that Ms Truss said the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill “isn’t legal” and will be invalidated if passed by the Scottish Parliament. The paper also writes that conservative members will begin receiving their ballots to vote for the next PM from Monday.
Ms Truss has claimed her childhood links to Paisley make her better placed than Rishi Sunak to hold the SNP to account, according to the Scottish Daily Express. She said: “Scottish Nationalists accepted that the 2014 referendum was a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and I will hold them to that. You cannot just keep having polls until you get the result you want. It is undemocratic for Scotland, and for our United Kingdom”.
The National reports that Ms Truss’s statement on indyref2 lacks legal basis as the Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether the referendum bill proposed by the Scottish government is within Holyrood’s powers. The Supreme Court is due to hear the case in October, around a year before the SNP’s proposed referendum date.
The Daily Telegraph reports on Tory leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut income tax to its lowest level in 30 years, as he vows to cut the basic rate from 20% to 16% if he gets the keys to No 10. The move has been branded a tactical “flip-flop” by a source in Liz Truss’ camp, according to the paper.
The i also reports on Mr Sunak’s 4% tax cut. It says Conservative MPs have told the paper that Mr Sunak and Ms Truss must stop trashing their own party’s record in government.
Scottish patients will be able to access test results and other information via the NHS app from November in a move to modernise healthcare, according to the Scottish Daily Mail. The Scottish government says the app will act as a “digital front door” to NHS services and allow patients to access their own health information and seek online advice. However, critics fear there could be threats to privacy and security.
The Herald says a think-tank has called for an end to free university tuition for Scots, amid a warning that the current structure is leading to a “grossly unfair cap” on the number of Scottish students. A new briefing paper by Reform Scotland argues that free tuition has led to an 84% increase in the number of Scottish-domiciled applicants being refused entry to universities in Scotland since 2006.
Less than half of Scotland’s most vulnerable people have received their fifth dose of Covid vaccine, despite it becoming available back in March, reports The Press and Journal. The paper says some people have complained they weren’t even aware they were due another dose.
Almost half of Scots have ‘nothing left’ to cut back on as more energy price hikes loom, according to the Daily Record. And the number warning that they have no financial slack rose to more than one in four among low-income households. In Scotland, 52% were confident they could maintain their “current lifestyle” in the coming year, compared with 56% across the UK.
A senior ambulance boss ordered a 999 call handler to pick him up from Glasgow Airport, according to The Scottish Sun. It is claimed an emergency dispatcher was taken off duty for two hours to collect the man and his family off a holiday flight from a Glasgow Airport in July. A whistleblower raised the alarm to Scottish Ambulance Service chiefs.
Comedian Kevin Bridges, 35, has described the SNP’s minimum alcohol pricing policy as “terrible”, saying it has turned people to drugs, says the Daily Star of Scotland. This comes after it emerged Scotland still had the highest rate of drug deaths in Europe, last week.
The Edinburgh Evening News writes that the director of the Edinburgh International Festival says the event could expand to the city’s waterfront over the next decade. Fergus Linehan suggested Edinburgh could create the equivalent of London’s Olympic Park in the Granton area, where a number of projects linked to the creative industries are already proposed.
The Courier reports that a thief who cost taxpayers around £21,000 after taking part in a “sophisticated” night-time raid has been jailed for two years. The paper says Rolands Zeiliss, 37, was part of a gang who stole tonnes of metal from an old stables building at Belmont castle.
The Evening Express says climate change protesters were found to be in breach of harbour security after staging a demonstration in a restricted zone at Aberdeen Harbour.
The Evening Telegraph says that broken glass left a German Shepherd pup, Marv, bleeding and badly injured.
A Glasgow man threatened to “chop up” his neighbour and “kill his dog” reports Glasgow Times. The paper says Robert McCool, 64, threatened B&M workers during a further outburst. It also says he was barred from an off-licence and grabbed a female shop worker.