Scotland’s papers: ‘Nightmare’ No10 and Johnson told to prove support

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The Tory party leadership continues to dominate the front pages in Scotland. “Boris is back” is the Scottish Sunday Express’ take, referring to Boris Johnson’s claim that he had the necessary support to enter the race. The paper says the former PM cut a holiday short in the Caribbean and was on course to pull off the “biggest comeback in political history”.

Other papers are less enthusiastic about Mr Johnson’s leadership bid. The Sunday Mail’s focus is on Mr Johnson’s backers – and scepticism from Rishi Sunak’s supporters. They have called for the Johnson camp to release a list of names that back him, the paper says.

The Sunday Post says pressure is mounting on Mr Johnson as Conservative MPs have told him to “forget” any attempt to join the leadership race. Some senior Tories have warned it would be “against the national interest” for Mr Johnson to return as PM, the paper says.

The Sunday Herald compared the political drama to the Tim Burton film Nightmare Before Christmas, saying Mr Johnson has “risen from the political grave”. The paper says parties in Scotland are “united in horror” at the prospect of him becoming prime minister a second time.

The Sunday Telegraph says Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak were being urged to strike a deal to avert a Conservative civil war last night, amid fears that the party is on course for a historic split. In an article for the paper, Commons leader and Tory leadership contender Penny Mordaunt warned: “It’s not acceptable that we would now risk losing an election because we couldn’t work together.”

Although Scotland on Sunday pictures Mr Johnson with the caption “guess who’s back?”, its main story is on families of relatives who died from Covid-19 in Scotland’s care homes. The paper says they remain “stuck in limbo” as they wait for a decision on whether homes will be prosecuted.

The Sunday National claims Scotland’s energy bills are set to “rise significantly” in order to fund the construction of new nuclear power plants in England. It says the increase in household bills is a “direct consequence” of the UK government’s decision to use a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model in their plans to license up to eight new nuclear plants.