Anticipation of the national squad’s first Euro 2020 match dominates the front pages in Scotland. The Daily Record says “football is really coming home” as Hampden will host Scotland in a major tournament for the first time at 14:00 on Monday.
The Scottish Sun says Scotland supporters will be “dreaming of glory” after a 23-year-long wait. The paper quotes Iain Emerson, editor of the Famous Tartan Army Magazine, who said he feels “quietly confident” about the team’s prospects.
The Daily Star of Scotland says the whole country will be “roaring” the squad on as they take on the Czech Republic. The paper points out that while Covid restrictions prevent a capacity crowd at Hampden, 12,000 fans will be allowed to watch the game inside the stadium.
Lateral flow test kits are to be posted to all visitors to the Glasgow Euro 2020 fan zone to encourage testing – but Labour says the Scottish government has left it “too late”, according to The Scotsman. The paper quotes the party’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie who said planning for the event on Glasgow Green had been “chaos from start to finish”.
The Courier leads with the impact of the tournament on hospitality, saying it will be a “big boost” for venues in Dundee and Angus, which are in levels two and one respectively. The paper reports that 800,000 pints are expected to be purchased on Monday alone, according to the Scottish Beer and Pub Association.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf suggested there could be a delay to Scotland’s move to level zero on 28 June, according to the Scottish Daily Express. It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to delay the ending of restrictions in England on 21 June.
The prime minister’s announcement will be made in a press conference on Monday, the Times reports, as the government attempts to hit its target of offering all adults at least one vaccine dose by the end of next month. The paper quotes a government source as saying Mr Johnson sees it as the “final stretch”.
The Scottish Daily Mail also leads with Mr Yousaf’s position on lockdown easing, which emerged on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show. The paper says the health secretary “refused” to rule out delaying the move to level zero until August.
The Herald leads with Mr Yousaf’s comment that the Delta variant is a “bump in the road” to Scotland’s exit routemap. He said the country is “at the very, very early days of a potential third wave”, the paper reports.
The Daily Telegraph leads with criticism of the Scottish government’s Covid restrictions from the wedding industry. Duncan McConchy, chair of the Scottish Wedding Industry Alliance, said the rules lack consistency and claimed that people are “starting to throw caution to the wind” in order to get around them, the paper reports.
The i reports that the UK will be able to alter current Covid vaccines “within weeks” to better combat virus variants and prevent lockdowns. The paper quotes a lead scientist on the “vaccine library” project as saying the UK will be able to move “much faster” in the future to react to harmful mutations of the virus.
The end of the summit in Cornwall was overshadowed by a Brexit backlash, the Metro says, after French President Emmanuel Macron was branded “offensive” and told to show “a bit of respect” in a row about Northern Ireland. Mr Macron caused a “storm” by suggesting Northern Ireland was not part of the UK.
An SNP MP has dismissed Scottish Secretary Alister Jack’s claim that the UK’s trade deal with Australia will be a “huge opportunity” for Scotland’s food and drink industry, according to The National. The paper says Deidre Brock claimed the Conservatives had dismissed the concerns of Scottish farmers throughout the negotiations.
Parents have warned of a potential “childcare crisis” in The Press and Journal due to the retirement of childminders and “scant resources”.
The Evening Telegraph reports that a man was jailed for a second time after he threatened to spit on and “cut up” police officers two weeks after his initial release.
A proposed new medical clinic in Aberdeen could be banned from using general anaesthetic in surgery because a neighbouring property is used to store gas and is classed as a “major hazard site”, reports the Evening Express.
Golf clubs in Edinburgh claim their future is under threat due to the process for allocating tee times being scrapped, according to the Edinburgh Evening News.
And the Glasgow Times leads with a family who climbed Ben Nevis in memory of a loved one who took his own life following a battle with addiction.
