Newspaper headlines: No 10 'chaos' as 'defiant' PM defends Cummings

Despite his attempts to draw a line under Dominic Cummings' lockdown travels, Boris Johnson will find little of comfort on Monday's front pages.

The Daily Mail is particularly wounding. Its main headline speaks of the prime minister "brazenly" backing the "svengali" who flouted his strict rules, and says the whole country is asking: "What Planet Are They On?"

In a front page editorial, the Mail says Mr Cummings has clearly "violated the spirit and letter of the lockdown" - and "given every selfish person a licence to play fast and loose with public health". The paper says Mr Cummings must now resign - or be sacked.

The Daily Telegraph headline carries Mr Johnson's verdict on his chief adviser at Downing Street briefing: "He has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity."

But the paper adds that members of the cabinet have said that the prime minister's full backing for Mr Cummings risks costing lives if the wider public use it as justification for ignoring social distancing.

Both the Telegraph and the New Statesman report Mr Cummings' mother revealing that his uncle died on the day the adviser was seen in his parents' garden.

She is said to have refused to say whether this influenced his decision to drive to County Durham.

Both the Sun and the Daily Express characterise Mr Johnson as defiant and "standing firm".

But the Sun adds that he is facing what it calls a "full-blown cabinet revolt" over his decision to stick by his aide. One unnamed minister is quoted as saying: "Cummings is going to burn us all."

Distinctly unsympathetic to the prime minister are the Guardian and the Daily Mirror, which together broke the story on Friday night.

"No apology, no explanation" is the Guardian's verdict. It says Mr Johnson is staking his political reputation on saving Mr Cummings' career.

Both papers report that the adviser is now facing a possible police investigation into allegations that he broke self-isolation rules by travelling a further 30 miles to Barnard Castle.

The Mirror's front page pictures Mr Cummings and Mr Johnson with the headline: "A Cheat And A Coward."

Away from the row over Mr Cummings, the Financial Times reports that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has authorised a plan to save strategically important companies from drowning in debt because of the pandemic.

According to the FT, the Treasury is ready - as a last resort - to take a stake in viable firms whose failure would "disproportionately harm the economy".

The paper lists aviation, aerospace and steelmakers as among the sectors facing acute problems, and it also says the car maker, Jaguar Land Rover, is talking to the government.

As preparations are stepped up for the resumption of professional sport in England, the i reports that staff at the firm which distributes the screening of all Premier League games overseas have voted overwhelmingly in favour of piping artificial crowd noise into matches played behind closed doors. However, the Premier League might not agree.

And the Daily Mirror reports that West Ham are consulting their fans about showing their faces on big screens instead. The paper notes that several clubs have rejected an alternative idea: constructing sets of cardboard cut-out supporters.

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