Scotland's papers: Court system under strain and Covid legal bill
After a week of focusing on storm damage and the Ukraine crisis, Scotland's Sunday papers go in many different directions. The Herald on Sunday leads with its own investigation into pressures being placed on Scotland's justice system, warning that it could now be at "breaking point".
Scotland on Sunday highlights the Scottish government signing a £250,000 contract with a legal firm ahead of a series of public inquiries into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. It is believed lawyers will advise ministers on drawing up statements about how they reached key decisions during the pandemic. However, opposition politicians say the figures involved are "eye-watering" and difficult to justify in the current financial climate.
The Sunday Mail gives over much of its front page to the launch of its own campaign to ban plastic wet wipes. The paper highlights the damage they are doing to the environment, saying 90% of the one billion wipes sold in Scotland contain plastics which can take more than 100 years to break down.
The Sunday Express leads with a study which shows more than four shops a day on average disappeared from Scotland's high streets last year. The paper says the study "builds a grim picture" with the net loss of 751 shops rising from 652 the previous year.
The Sunday Times' lead story is on what it calls the "wealthy donors" who have the prime minister's ear. The paper says thousands of leaked documents show that about a dozen of the most generous Conservative party donors have been invited to frequent meetings with Mr Johnson's top team - at times when the PM was taking, what the paper calls, "some of the most controversial and difficult decisions ever to have faced a peacetime leader".
The Scottish Mail on Sunday leads with a row over new government guidance for police, teachers and social workers on how to deal with underage sex. The paper says that, for the first time, parents should not automatically be informed and a young person's confidentiality should be given priority unless they are at risk of harm.
British interests may be at risk of cyber-attacks from Russia, the home secretary and GCHQ warned in the Sunday Telegraph. Companies and public services are being urged to take "pre-emptive measures" to bolster security against such a cyber assault. The UK is seen as a potential target, given its stance on challenging Russian aggression in recent weeks, the paper adds.
The Sunday Post reports that the Lord Advocate has been asked to allow a private prosecution of footballers David Goodwillie and David Robertson, who never stood trial over the rape of Denise Clair. The pair were ruled as rapists when Ms Clair launched a civil action in 2017, after the Crown Office did not pursue a prosecution.
The National has an interview with an SNP MSP who says decades of "dire predictions" about the problems Scotland will face if it becomes independent have ended up happening under Westminster control. Jim Fairlie says the "same old scare stories" appear whenever support for independence looks to be increasing.
