'A matter of life and death’: How newspapers reacted to the UK’s coronavirus lockdown

Daily Mail declares state of ‘house arrest’, while Daily Telegraph bemoans the ‘end of freedom’

How did Britain's newspapers react to the UK's coronavirus lockdown?

Newspapers have reacted with a mixture of relief, doom and inevitable wartime comparisons after Boris Johnson urged the nation it “must stay at home” to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Unveiling drastic new measures on Monday night, the prime minister announced a ban on public gatherings and confined the population to their homes except in the case of “very limited circumstances”.

As the UK awoke to a country on unprecedented lockdown, they were greeted with dramatic front pages describing the new restrictions as “house arrest”, “a matter of life and death”, and the “end of freedom”.

Most British papers carried images of Mr Johnson’s televised address, with The Independent, The Guardian, The i and The Times echoing the prime minister’s order to stay at home in their headlines.

Several tabloids opted for more interpretive graphics and language, with The Sun captioning the imagery of a monochrome Union Jack padlock with the words: “House arrest”.

The paper suggested fines used to enforce the new rules on social gatherings and going outside to exercise more than once a day could reach up to £1,000.

The Daily Mail‘s editors chose to forego pictures to declare “lockdown Britain” had begun, describing the PM’s ”bombshell” restrictions as “historic”, “astonishing” and “unprecedented”.

Its front page report said the new restrictions, due to be reviewed in three weeks, will probably last “far longer”.

Striking a stark tone, The Telegraph – for which Mr Johnson wrote a well-paid column before assuming leadership of the country – declared Downing Street’s measures marked the “end of freedom”.

It quoted Mr Johnson as saying: “No prime minister wants to enact measures like this. But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.”

Its front page story noted the measures “go far beyond anything seen in wartime”.

Also drawn to wartime comparisons were editors at the Daily Star, who re-appropriated a classic First World War recruitment poster to read: “Your country needs you ... to naff off home.”

The Times dedicated half of its front page to a piece by political sketch writer Quentin Letts, headlined: “He spoke on a matter of life and death.”

Referencing the relative simplicity of the PM’s speech, Mr Letts wrote: “The absence of melodrama, paradoxically, made it all the more striking and urgent.”

But other newspapers carried suggestions that Mr Johnson had been slow to introduce an enforced lockdown.

“After days of being accused of sending mixed messages about what the public should do, Johnson significantly escalated his language,” The Guardian reported.

The Independent used an editorial on the second page of its digital newspaper to insist: “Johnson has been too slow to accept the inevitable”.

Meanwhile, Metro used a striking image of London commuters braving packed Tube carriages captioned “find the gap”, which it claimed ”proved measures weren’t enough”.