The government's discomfort over criticism of the state of the National Health Service, from both within and without the Labour Party, remains the main topic on the front pages.

The Sunday Express claims Tony Blair's antidote is a £15bn increase in NHS funding, although this boost in spending remains dependent on the party winning the next election.

It also reports that the prime minister is considering using Lottery money, by changing the rules that govern the National Lottery when Camelot's licence expires at the end of the year.

If more spending on the NHS is the remedy, The Observer has a tonic for the prime minister.

It carries the results of a survey which shows three out of four voters would be happy to forgo a cut in income tax this April, if the money was poured into the health service.

The Independent on Sunday claims that ministers have been holding back a report that adds weight to the argument to increase spending.

The paper says the National Bed Enquiry, which should have been published last year, backs doctors' claims that money which the government said was to provide new intensive care beds, has been spent shoring up the existing system.

Squaddies freeze in tents

The Mail on Sunday leads with the tale of the "Heroine of Downing Street", describing how a young mother was injured saving her eight-year-old son from a car that rammed the gates which protect Number 10.

The American woman found herself in the car's path, but managed to throw her son to safety, before taking the full impact of the vehicle which left her with a broken leg.

The News of the World reports on how British squaddies serving in Kosovo are still living in tents, enduring freezing winter temperatures, while their American comrades enjoy centrally heated barracks, their own supermarkets and a McDonalds restaurant.

The British troops are meanwhile using open-air latrines and showers because the MoD apparently failed to get a multi-million pound contract to build the British barracks completed on time.

Ride into disaster

And now a calamitous story which the Independent on Sunday says sounds like a sketch from Mr Bean.

It starts with a motorist slamming on the brakes on the approach to a level crossing, when he is suddenly confronted with a horse-and-rider and a pensioner walking his dog.

A following motorcyclist runs into his rear and comes off his bike. This scares the horse, which throws its rider into a hedge. The pensioner goes to the rider's aid, first tying his dog up to the level crossing barrier.

Then, as a train passes, the barrier begins to rise, taking the dog with it. The owner rushes to free the dog, but now the final twist - the dog, agitated and confused, expresses its gratitude by sinking its teeth into the prone motorcyclist.

The story was voted the most bizarre rental car accident of 1999 by an insurance company. It verified the extraordinary tale when the rider claimed damages against the motorist who started it all off.