Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Boris Johnson accused of sending mixed messages

Maybe the coronavirus would make more sense from space? NASA scientists have invited global experts to use satellite data to help build a clearer picture of the best ways to tackle the virus. There’s an island off the coast of mainland Europe where the picture is a bit fuzzy right now. Boris Johnson’s big Sunday night announcement was supposed to offer some clarity. But moving out of lockdown is proving extremely messy. The PM has introduced a five scale system, a three-step process, and one unpopular new slogan – while the consensus between the four parts of the UK has all but broken down. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing during the coronavirus crisis.

Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn on what to look out for today:

No 10 is set to publish 50-page guidance on its plan for easing the lockdown restrictions following Boris Johnson’s big speech on Sunday evening. The prime minister is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons, and could offer more detail on exactly how people from different households might be allowed to meet up. Meanwhile, UK and EU negotiators are set to bein the third round of pos-Brexit trade negotiations.

ROAD TO … SOMEWHERE? Johnson’s road map out of the lockdown didn’t offer much in the way of precise destinations. While unlimited exercise and sunbathing will be allowed from Wednesday, the second step could see the phased reopening of shops and the return of some primary schools from 1 June. A third step could also see some “hospitality industry” outlets open up from 1 July – but only if the new alert system, ranking the threat on a scale of one to five, allows us to make progress. Presenting himself as the model of caution, the PM said it would be “madness” to allow a “second spike”. And yet he also told us it was time to “go to work, if you can’t work from home,” pushing forward construction and manufacturing as examples of sectors where people “should be actively encouraged to go to work”. The TUC said it was a “recipe for chaos”, while Labour leader Keir Starmer said the PM’s statement “raises as many questions as it answers”.

SLOGAN’S RUN: If ministers hoped a new message could be slipped into public consciousness without much fuss, they were wrong. Nicola Sturgeon was among the many slagging the new slogan “stay alert, control the virus, save lives” – insisting the Scottish government would stick with the “stay at home” mantra. “I don’t know what ‘stay alert’ means,” said the first minister, dismissing it as “vague and imprecise”. Wales and Northern Ireland will also retain the stay at home message. On Monday the once-a-day exercise limit will be removed in Scotland, but Sturgeon emphasised people should not be sunbathing – another point of difference with Johnson’s advice. If some of those “actively encouraged” to get back to work have to see their bosses again soon, what about their loved ones? Johnson will add further detail today, but government officials suggested last night that two people from different households will be allowed to meet up in a park, so long as they stay two metres apart.

NO WIGGLE ROOM: Has Johnson got an impossible task? According to The Sunday Times, the government has been warned about the potential for 100,000 deaths by the end of the year if the lockdown is eased too quickly, with an unnamed scientific adviser telling he newspaper: “There is very limited room for manoeuvre”. If you were looking for news Britain is in good shape to enter the next phase of the crisis, it was a fairly dispiriting weekend. The government missed its target of 100,000 tests a day target for the eighth consecutive day in a row (with just over 92,000 tests on Saturday). The Department of Health had to admit 50,000 coronavirus tests had to be sent to the US for processing after a “temporary failure” at a lab. And the government was forced to issue an urgent alert to hospitals recalling 15.8 million Tiger Eye goggles due to safety concerns.

ONE HUNDRED TWEETS IN SOLITUDE: Former president Barack Obama has made his views about Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis known. They aren’t positive. In a private conference call encouraging former staff to work for Joe Biden, Obama called the president’s response “an absolute chaotic disaster”. Trump remained out of public view but found time to tweet and retweet more than 100 times on Sunday, awarding his own administration “great marks” for its performance during the pandemic. Most of his social media missives were reserved for wild claims about the Russia investigation, calling it “the biggest political crime in American history”. One tweet simply read: “OBAMAGATE!”

AIN’T OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER: South Korean officials are scrambling to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, searching for thousands of people who may have been infected in a cluster of cases linked to nightclubs and bars in the capital Seoul. Officials reported 35 new infections across the country on Sunday, the second consecutive day of new cases, and the highest numbers in more than a month. “It’s not over until it’s over,” said South Korea’s President Moon, warning of a possible second wave later this year. China, meanwhile, reported 17 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, the nation’s second consecutive day of increases in the double digits.

BUBBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE: Belgium’s prime minister Sophie Wilmes has announced a plan to allow “social bubbles” of friends and family to meet up – but the country’s police force has warned it will be almost impossible to enforce. Every household can invite up to four guests to their home. “Preferably, choose one family or one household you meet, and stay within that fixed bubble,” said the government’s coronavirus spokesman on the plan. In Germany, trouble is brewing. The government’s disease control agency has revealed the ‘R’ transmission rate has risen above 1 only days after some rules were eased. Meanwhile thousands of anti-lockdown activists protested in Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich against the remaining restrictions.

“What the country wanted tonight was clarity and consensus, and I’m afraid we’ve got neither.”

Keir Starmer on the PM’s plan to ease the lockdown.

“The government’s message this past week was ‘wait until Sunday and it’ll all become clear’ and if anything it’s just got more confusing.”

The Independent’s Jon Stone is puzzled...

“I felt like I was in the room and he was talking to me...what a brilliant speech @BorisJohnson well done.”

…while cricket star Ben Stokes is enlightened.

Tom Peck, The Independent: Boris Johnson has set out a clear plan for the way ahead. The downside is that it makes no sense

Marsha de Cordova, The Independent: The disparity in coronavirus deaths shows we must tackle the structural inequalities in our society

Robert Peston, The Spectator: Two big gaps in Boris Johnson’s lockdown statement

Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic: Take the shutdown sceptics seriously