What the papers say – June 15

The delay to the easing of lockdown restrictions in England until July leads many of the Tuesday front pages.

The Daily Telegraph writes about Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “refusal” to offer a cast-iron guarantee that the end of lockdown will not be pushed back further after postponing it by four weeks to July 19.

The Daily Mirror writes “freedom day delayed”, while the Daily Mail says there was “Tory fury” with the delay which was a “bitter blow to millions of families”.

The Sun questions “will we ever be free?”, the Daily Star calls it a “lockdown KO” and Metro says freedom has been “put on ice”.

The Daily Express leads with Mr Johnson’s view that a delay to reopening will save lives, while The Times carries his suggestion the UK must learn to live with the virus.

The Guardian leads with the quote it was “time to ease off the accelerator” and The Independent writes up to 40,000 people could die this summer from the Delta variant.

The i says nine million people are being advised not to travel outside their area, and the Financial Times says the delay to lockdown easing has “thwarted business hopes of additional financial support”.