What the papers say - August 26

A variety of news makes the front pages on Sunday - from a health "scandal" to the latest on Brexit.

The Mail on Sunday leads on an investigation into so-called "ghost patients", reporting that 3.6 million patients who do not exist are registered with GPs' surgeries.

Calling the results a "scandal", the paper says the number has risen at a rate of almost 6,000 a week.

Brexit makes the front of The Observer, which carries a warning from the former president of the European council Herman Van Rompuy that a no-deal Brexit would risk the break up of the United Kingdom.

He told the paper that such an outcome would end up creating new pressures over Scottish independence.

The Independent says Michael Heseltine has cast doubt over the Prime Minister's ability to secure a Brexit deal that can pass the Commons, and has thrown his support behind the paper's campaign for a referendum on the final deal.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that Theresa May has ordered officials to start work on a British satellite navigation system to rival the EU's Galileo after Brussels threatened to block the UK from its project.

An image of Pope Francis also features on the front of the paper as he arrived in Ireland for a two-day visit.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times says one in three "bobbies on the beat" has been axed in three years as violent crime increased.

The Sunday People reports that Novichok victim Charlie Rowley is back in hospital with suspected meningitis, and the Sunday Express says thousands of people are set for windfalls on learning PPI compensation can be claimed on behalf of dead relatives.

Elsewhere, the Sunday Mirror carries an interview with Stormy Daniels.