WE’VE got momentum, we’re feeling confident, but at the same time we’ve got to give our opponent respect. Who said that at the weekend?

It was the Liverpool player Jordan Henderson, who scored one of four goals for England against Ukraine on Saturday. But he could have been referring to the lifting of lockdown rules in England (on July 19) and Scotland (July 19-August 9).

In advance of what has been dubbed “Freedom Day” in England, it fell to Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, to yesterday tour the Sunday politics shows.

His task: to drum up anticipation for the great unlocking while at the same time keeping a lid on expectations, just in case. Gareth Southgate would likely sympathise as his team heads towards a semi-final with Denmark on Wednesday.

On the question of England's progress in Euro 2020, one might have thought The Andrew Marr Show, a programme fronted by a Scot, could be relied upon for a suitably distanced response. Only up to a point, as it turned out.

“This morning,” said Marr, “football teaches a lesson to every other aspect of public life, in England at least. Professionalism, discipline, calm, perspective, generosity, grace. By football I really mean Gareth Southgate. What a guy.”

Marr fared better than Sky News’ Trevor Phillips, who discarded impartiality altogether in favour of a “Come on England!” sign off.

Adding to the upbeat air in England was the country’s new Health Secretary. Just one week in the job and Sajid Javid has changed his department’s tone from one of caution to confidence. He told the Mail on Sunday that England was “on track” to lift restrictions on July 19. The Sunday papers in England went into more detail, with compulsory wearing of masks reported to be on the way out.

“Taking personal responsibility” and “learning to live with the virus” are the mottos now. One effect of this was to replace what was once the standard question asked of Ministers, “Are you going on holiday abroad this summer?”, with “Will you get rid of your mask after July 19?” Mr Jenrick told Trevor Phillips that he would (albeit at the second time of asking).

READ MORE: Scotland on track to ease restrictions, says expert

“I don’t particularly want to wear a mask,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of people enjoy doing it. We will be moving into a phase where these will be matters of personal choice. Some members of society will want to do so for perfectly legitimate reasons, but it will be a different period where we as private citizens make these judgments rather than the Government telling you what to do.”

Contrast this tone with the one taken by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in her Covid-19 briefing last Friday. After a week in which daily case numbers in Scotland had risen above 4000 for the first time, she said: “Even if we get to the point in Scotland where we can lift most of the legal restrictions the idea that any country is going to be free while there is a global pandemic raging is not a safe assumption, so we are probably going to have to continue to have certain baseline mitigations in place.”

She “hoped” Scotland was still on track to lift any remaining restrictions on August 9 – three weeks after England – but an assessment would be made as planned on July 19.

Scotland has reason to be more cautious. According to data from the WHO, published in the Sunday Times, Scotland is home to six out of ten of the most infected areas in Europe. Overall, one in 150 people are infected in Scotland compared to one in 260 in England.

Though Scotland and England are due to unlock at different times, there will inevitably be pressure on Edinburgh once Downing Street goes from amber to green.

Will pointing to the higher case numbers here be enough to hold the line or will people follow the example of England and disregard remaining rules anyway?

Mr Jenrick told Marr: "We would like the whole of the Union to move as one. We are going to work with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to try and be as coordinated as possible.”

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Speaking on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show, Christine Tait-Burkard, assistant professor of zoonotic viruses at Edinburgh University said that “despite the numbers”, Scotland could “definitely” go ahead with a move to level 0 restrictions on July 19 (including allowing larger groups to meet indoors), and beyond that on August 9 (no social distancing in pubs and restaurants).

Viewers expecting their usual television rendezvous with Martin Geissler on The Sunday Show were greeted instead with a repeat of the home relocation programme, Escape to the Country. Having been a pioneer of multi-platform programming, with shows simulcast on television and radio, The Sunday Show is going back to basics over the summer with a radio programme only.

When it began in February, BBC Scotland said The Sunday Show would have a longer run than Politics Scotland, the Gordon Brewer-programme it replaced, with an extra four weeks across the year. There is still time to achieve that.

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BBC Scotland said it had always been the plan for The Sunday Show, like its predecessor, to have a summer break, and the move was nothing to do with cutting costs. The Sunday Show will return in September, when the Scottish Parliament is also back.