‘It’s all Greek to us’: what the papers say about Boris Johnson’s lockdown exit plan | UK news

The dangers facing Boris Johnson as he tries to manoeuvre the country out of lockdown are starkly illustrated by Monday morning’s front pages featuring the prime minister’s heavily caveated statement to the nation.

Four days after many newspapers looked forward to a widespread easing of restrictions on “Magic Monday”, the story was very different following Sunday’s night’s televised address to the nation.

“Boris keeps handbrake on,” says the Mail’s front page headline alongside a large picture of the prime minister clenching his fist as he makes a point during the broadcast. It says Johnson set out the “first steps to free Britain”.

Freedom is also the theme of other front pages with the Express proclaiming “Boris: our route to freedom … in baby steps”, and the Telegraph saying: “The long road to freedom”. However, the broadsheet also carries a front page commentary which says that the prime minister “gave us the map, but only a few vague directions”.

The Times goes for the more sober “PM sets out lockdown exit plan”, while the Sun says Johnson’s message was “cautious” with a splash headline that says “Ready steady slow.”

But several newspapers pick up on the mixed messages contained in Johnson’s address and the growing divide between Westminster and governments in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

The Metro invokes the prime minister’s fondness for the classics by saying “It’s all Greek to us Boris” while the Guardian says “PM’s lockdown release leaves Britain confused and divided”. The Mirror says “Lockdown Britain: it’s chaos”.

The Scottish papers emphasize the split in how the returned governments are handling the situation.

The Scotsman says “Stay at home remains as PM faces backlash”, while the Herald carries the warning from first minister Nicola Sturgeon: “If we don’t stay at home now, more people will die”.

The FT concentrates on the economic issues with a page one headline that reads “Johnson lays out three-phase plan for putting Britain back to work”. The i says “PM sends millions back to work”.