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Newspaper headlines: 'Back to square one' as millions face new rules

By BBC News
Staff

Published
image captionThe front pages are dominated by reaction to the new three-tier Covid alert level system for England, which sees the Liverpool City Region under the toughest restrictions. "Back to the bad old days", declares the Daily Mail, which says 22 million people in England now face stricter local measures. But in what the paper describes as a "grim warning", chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said he did not think the most severe level of restrictions would be enough and it was likely "significantly more" will be required in the worst-affected areas.
image captionThe Daily Star takes a similar view, saying "we're back to square one", 204 days after the UK first entered lockdown. The country is now at a "tipping point" and the fourth worst in the world in terms of the number of cases, the paper says.
image captionThe UK is facing a "new phase" in its battle with the virus, according to the i. The government is "torn" between the science and the economic and social challenge, the paper says, below a picture of the prime minister sandwiched between his chief medical officer and chancellor.
image caption"Mersey mission" is the headline on the front of the Metro, alongside a grim-faced picture of the prime minister. The paper says the restrictions placed on Liverpool, which is the only region so far to be placed in the "very high" alert tier, amount to a "virtual lockdown", with pubs and bars forced to close and households stopped from mixing anywhere on Merseyside.
image captionBoris Johnson is urging other council leaders across northern England to "step up and agree draconian lockdown measures", following the new restrictions for Liverpool, the Times reports. The prime minister also hinted at tougher national action to come, saying he did not want to impose a complete lockdown "right now" but the figures on infections and hospital admissions were "flashing at us like dashboard warnings in a passenger jet".
image captionThe Daily Express also focuses on warnings that further action may be needed. The prime minister told regional leaders that failing to act now would be "unforgivable" and that the nation faces a "crucial phase in our fight", the paper reports.
image captionHowever, the Guardian says Mr Johnson is facing "anger" from northern leaders over the new alert system, including the level of financial support available. Greater Manchester and the North East "fought off" attempts to close their hospitality sectors, insisting ministers had not provided scientific evidence and the measures were proving counter-productive, the paper adds.
image captionThe government comes in for strong criticism on the front page of the Daily Mirror, which claims after "eight months of sacrifice" it still has "no proper plan, no proper test and trace and no proper support for workers". "It all ends in tiers," is the paper's verdict.
image captionThe prime minister is also facing a backlash from his own party over the move towards tougher measures, the Financial Times reports. A dozen Conservative MPs voted against his "rule of six" this month and one senior Tory predicted more could vote against the additional restrictions on Tuesday, the paper adds.
image captionMeanwhile, the Telegraph says Mr Johnson has "overruled" the government's scientific advisers, who pressed for national lockdown measures such as stopping all household mixing and closing all pubs. Papers from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), released on Monday night, show that the body called for immediate national measures at the end of last month, the paper reports.

A stern-faced Boris Johnson is pictured on the front of the Times and the Daily Telegraph. The Times says the prime minister has urged council leaders across northern England to step up and agree "draconian lockdown measures" after tough restrictions were announced for Liverpool.

"Divided Kingdom" is how the Sun describes the new tier system. "Back to the bad old days" is the Daily Mail's front page headline, while the Daily Star has a picture of a Snakes and Ladders board game. After 204 days, says the paper, "we're back to square one".

The Financial Times says the prime minister is facing a "Tory backlash" over his shift to tougher restrictions. But he gets support inside the Telegraph from a former party leader, Lord Hague. "While the government's had its fair share of Covid blunders", he writes, we must not allow ourselves to be persuaded they are "a bunch of dunderheads who have got everything wrong and don't give a damn for people outside London".

For those unhappy at the tightening of restrictions here, spare a thought for our foreign neighbours. The Times reports there is a "German revolt over an internal travel ban". This prohibits people from four of the country's five biggest cities from renting hotel rooms - unless they can provide a fresh negative test result.

The Telegraph says nine cities in France - including Toulouse and Montpellier - are on the highest alert levels, and local lockdowns are looming.

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image captionLiverpool will be placed under the "very high" Covid alert level from Wednesday

"MPs don't deserve a £3,000 wage rise" is a headline in the Daily Mirror, reporting comments from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. It says the independent body that sets MPs' wages plans to carry on linking them to pay growth in the public sector, which topped 4% in October.

But Sir Keir says the money should go to key workers instead. "Hear hear, Keir," says its leader column, which argues it is "not about asking MPs to live on the breadline", but recognising that 2020 has been completely unlike other years.

A rare copy of a 300-year-old book by Sir Isaac Newton could fetch more than £20,000 at auction today, according to the Mirror. It says the work - Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in English - is regarded as the most important in science.

The anonymous seller, from the Channel Islands, was originally given an estimate of £8-10,000. But hopes this can be exceeded are high, after another copy found in Wales recently fetched £22,000.

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Finally, we should think twice before we start to poke fun at grumpy old men, the Times tells us, quoting research suggesting we begin to lose our sense of humour from the age of 23. Two academics from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California argue this age coincides with our entry into the jobs market, when we suddenly become "serious and important people". A survey finds it takes the average 40-year-old 10 weeks to laugh as much as a four-year-old does in a single day.

The Times' leader column says it is only on reaching retirement age that we regain anything like our early gift for giggling. It finds this "comforting", and that "reaching the autumn of our lives is, after all, a laughing matter".