Boris defies Tory fury to delaying roadmap exit until July 19

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Boris Johnson tonight dramatically delayed ‘Freedom Day’ by another four weeks to prevent up to 500 deaths a day after scientists warned the Indian variant could be 80 per cent more infectious.

Giving the bad news at a Downing Street briefing, the PM defied fury from Tory MPs and the hospitality industry to insisted he cannot press ahead until more people are double-jabbed.

He said the disease cannot be ‘eliminated’ and the country will have to learn to ‘live with it’. But he said he needed to ‘give the NHS a few more crucial weeks’. 

‘I think it is sensible to wait a little longer,’ he said. ‘Now is the time to ease off the accelerator.’ 

However, Mr Johnson added that he viewed the new date as a ‘terminal point’ for lockdown, with all restrictions able to be lifted for good.  

The shift came after Government experts told the premier that the Indian – or Delta strain – is far more transmissible than the Kent version, while single doses of vaccines are thought to be less effective in countering it.

Allowing the relaxation in England could put millions of people who have yet to have a jab at risk, as well as those who have only had one dose and elderly people who remain vulnerable.

Chief medic Chris Whitty, flanking the PM as usual alongside Sir Patrick Vallance, told the briefing that hospitalisations had risen 61 per cent in the North West in just a week. ‘The assessment of risk has fundamentally shifted,’ he said. 

The move means that current rules will essentially remain in place until July 19 – with social distancing in force in bars and restaurants, and the edict to work from home where possible staying.

At the same time the vaccine rollout will be intensified, with dosing intervals reduced to eight weeks. As a result around two thirds of adults could have been double-jabbed by July 19. 

Government experts say hospitalisations should be slashed by between half and a third as a result, preventing ‘thousands’ of deaths. Modellers have indicated that otherwise hospital admissions could hit 2,000, with 250 or even 500 deaths a day possible.  

In an effort to sweeten the pill for people who have been putting their lives on hold for more than a year, there will be some easing on the rules for weddings. The 30-person limit on services and receptions will be abandoned – but venues will still be restricted by how many they can accommodate while respecting social distancing rules.

Dancing will also still be out in another blow to couples hoping to celebrate. 

In another sop to critics, Mr Johnson offered a ‘break clause’ with another review of the situation in two weeks’ time – although officials warned that it is very unlikely to conclude restrictions can be eased quicker. 

And the premier was adamant that there will be no further slippage from the new July 19 timetable, suggesting the full ‘Freedom Day’ will happen at that point. One aide said almost all the ‘benefit’ from additional jabs will have accrued by then.

‘As things stand now… I am confident we won’t need more than four weeks and will not need to go beyond July 19,’ Mr Johnson said, although he did add that he could not rule out ‘the possibility that there is some new variant that’s far more dangerous that kills people in a way that we currently cannot foresee or understand’.  

But Mr Johnson’s own MPs are livid at the move, with fears running high that this delay is only the first and lockdown might not be dropped at all.

He will face a Commons showdown with them on Wednesday, with the new regulations requiring a debate and a vote. 

Although they are certain to go through with Labour support, the scale of the rebellion from Tory MPs will show the level of anger he is facing.

Vice chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbench MPs Sir Charles Walker said that ‘existing isn’t living’ as he raised concerns that restrictions will stay in place all summer. 

In other developments: 

• The UK has reported another 7,742 coronavirus infections – up more than a third on last Monday – and three more deaths. Nearly 30million people have had two doses of vaccine; 
• There are no plans to change the furlough scheme, despite the fact employers will have to start making bigger contributions next month; 
• A YouGov poll has found 71 per cent of English adults back delaying the June 21 unlocking, while just 24 per cent are opposed; 
• Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has voiced fury that Mr Johnson is announcing the decision at the Downing Street press briefing instead of to the House, saying he wants a face-to-face meeting with the PM; 
• Extra support to tackle a rise in cases of the Delta variant, which was first recorded in India, has been announced for more areas of the North West and Birmingham; 
• Andrew Lloyd Webber said a delay to the exit roadmap risked bankrupting the entire arts industry;
• Ministers are pushing ahead with trials for the use of so-called ‘Covid passports’ for big cultural and sporting events, but will not make them compulsory for pubs.

Downing Street officials admit there is ‘considerable uncertainty’ over the scale of the expected resurgence.

In the worst affected areas case rates are doubling every week.

No10 accepts there will be an ‘economic impact’ to the delay.

But they insisted there changes are not needed to the support package, with furlough due to stay until September – even though businesses will need to contribute more to costs from next month.  

‘We have got substantial support in place,’ one official said. ‘We deliberately extended support well into the Autumn.’

Pilots using Covid status certification for larger events will go ahead despite the wider ‘pause’. 

Up to a dozen events will happen over the four weeks, including a mix of indoor and outdoor, seated and unseated. They are expected to include Euros football matches and will see various capacities of crowd up to full capacity. 

Mr Johnson said ‘we have obviously faced a very difficult choice’.

‘We can simply keep going with all of Step 4 on June 21, even though there is a real possibility that the virus will outrun the vaccines and that thousands more deaths would ensue which could otherwise have been avoided.

‘Or else we can give the NHS a few more crucial weeks to get those remaining jabs into the arms of those who need them.

‘And since today I cannot say that that we have met all our four tests for proceeding with Step 4 on June 21, I think it is sensible to wait just a little longer.’

Mr Johnson said: ‘I am sorry for all the disappointment that is going to be caused by going a bit slower.’ 

He added: ‘We will monitor the position every day and if, after two weeks, we have concluded that the risk has diminished then we reserve the possibility of proceeding to step four, and a full opening, sooner.’

Mr Johnson said he is ‘confident’ that no more than four weeks will be needed and that restrictions will not go beyond July 19.

‘It’s unmistakably clear the vaccines are working and the sheer scale of the vaccine roll-out has made our position incomparably better than in previous waves,’ he said.

‘But now is the time to ease off the accelerator, because by being cautious now we have the chance in the next four weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people.’

Sir Patrick said that it was ‘not very obvious’ that delaying more than four weeks would bring a significant benefit. 

Professor Whitty said a balance had to be struck between protecting people and opening up society.

‘No one thinks at the end of the four-week delay the risk is gone,’ England’s chief medical officer said.

‘There will still be substantial numbers, there will be substantial numbers in hospitals and sadly there will be some people who will go on to die of this.

‘The question is a matter of balance.’

Once all that could reasonably be done to reduce the risk had been put in place ‘we will have to live with this virus – which will continue to cause severe infections and kill people – for the rest of our lives’.

‘Where does the balance lie?’

New analysis by Public Health England (PHE) has revealed that 29 per cent of Covid deaths from the B.1.617.2 Indian strain had received two injections. 

And, in a further blow, the PHE report suggests the Delta variant has a 64 per cent increased risk of household transmission compared to the Kent (Alpha) variant.

However, some hardline anti-lockdown Tories are furious about any delay at all, as they wanted the lifting of lockdown to be faster that it has been. 

UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: ‘The decision to delay is hugely disappointing but the Government has judged the evidence and acted as it sees fit. 

‘It does, however, jeopardise the return on investment that the Government has afforded hospitality and it’s crucial that further support is announced to push us over the line.

‘The hospitality sector has already lost more than £87billion in sales in the pandemic leaving businesses deeply in debt and at risk of suffering ‘economic long Covid’ without further support. 

‘Our businesses face incredible levels of debt and will now face a huge cost hike, with business rates payments set to recommence and rent accruals due at the end of the month. 

‘This four-week delay to lifting restrictions will cost the sector around £3billion in sales, put at risk 300,000 jobs and have a knock-on impact on bookings throughout the summer and into the autumn. Simply put, if the supports provided by the Chancellor are not sustained and adjusted, businesses will fail and getting this far will count for nought.’ 

Live, the body representing the UK’s live music business, said the delay to the road map was devastating to the industry and called for emergency financial support.

Greg Parmley, CEO of Live, said: ‘Following more than a year of confusion, lost revenue and cancellations, we are devastated the Government has not set out any clear path for the restart of the live music industry.

‘The Government has been quick to talk up the success of the vaccine rollout, but other countries are now ahead of us in opening up full capacity events with simple Covid certification processes, including the Netherlands, Belgium and the US.

‘The Government must also provide urgent emergency financial support to those impacted by today’s decision.

‘There are hundreds of millions of pounds from the much-vaunted Culture Recovery Fund unallocated, despite being 15 months on from the start of the crisis. This money needs to get into the industry without any more delay.’ 

Sir Charles said: ‘Eventually, if you say you are going to live with Covid-19, ultimately at times you are going to have to tough it out. Existing isn’t living. 

‘So I just have an overwhelming sense of pessimism now. If you can’t lift restrictions at the height of summer, and we are in the height of summer, then you almost certainly are looking at these restrictions persisting and tightening into the autumn and winter.

‘I don’t think the July 19 date will be met. If it is, it will be met for weeks before we enter further lockdowns.’

Earlier, health minister Edward Argar defended the concept of a delay, saying it would massively boost vaccine numbers – with data showing that most of the most serious Indian variant cases have involved people who have not been jabbed.

‘Were there to be a delay, were that to be what the Prime Minister announces, we will see what he says and he will make a judgment if he were to delay it on how long by,’ he told BBC Breakfast.

‘If we are going at a run rate of about 250,000 to 300,000 second jabs being done each day, a month gives you roughly that 10 million, which closes the gap… 10 million you have got to do to get from 29 million to 40 million, so that all 40 million have had their second jabs.’ 

Former minister Steve Baker channelled classic war film The Great Escape in a message to Covid Recovery Group MPs last night, according to Politico, saying: ‘It is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. 

‘If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability.’

And theatre impresario Sir Howard Panter warned the industry will suffer ‘significant damage’ if the final lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England is put on hold. 

Conservative MP Damian Green has told the Westminster Hour that there should be a break clause after two or three weeks of the extension.

‘I get the point that because of the deltas variant the cases have gone up, hospitalisation has gone up a bit but not a lot and is below the level of some of the Sage predictions of a few months ago,’ he said.

‘So I think if there is a delay I hope it’s only for a few weeks and I think if it is as long as a month then there should be a break clause after two or maybe three weeks, to say that if we can tell by then that the rise in cases is not lading to a sort of rise in the serious illness that sends people into hospital, then we can unlock earlier.’

Ignoring a mounting revolt by Tory MPs and dire warnings from the hospitality and theatre industries, Mr Johnson will argue that scrapping all restrictions now is likely to fuel the surge – and the public needs to be ‘patient’ so the country does not go into reverse.

Michael Gove, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock signed off on the four-week delay at a Covid O meeting this afternoon, before Cabinet rubber stamped the decision.

The new regulations will be laid tomorrow.

Mr Johnson is putting the delay to a debate and vote on Wednesday. 

While it is likely to pass easily with opposition support, he faces a sizable Tory rebellion that will show the dept of anger on his own backbenches. 

Conservative MP Peter Bone said a delay to the lifting of restrictions should not happen ‘without really good reason’ and that currently he ‘can’t see the evidence why we should be postponing our freedom’.

Asked if he would vote against a delay if put to a vote in Parliament, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘What I would do is listen to what the Prime Minister says, listen to the arguments, and if I’m not convinced that these restrictions are necessary then I would of course vote against it and I hope every member of the House of Commons will listen to the argument and make their minds up.

‘There has to be a vote in the House of Commons. This can’t be decided by a few ministers sitting behind closed doors. It has to be an open and transparent decision.’

He said there should only be restrictions ‘if there is a very clear danger to society’. 

 Sir Keir Starmer has blamed the Government’s ‘pathetic’ border policy for the delay.

The Labour leader made the comments in response to threats from composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to open his theatres to a full house on June 21 regardless of lockdown rules.

Speaking to LBC, Sir Keir said: ‘June 21 was supposed to be ”Freedom Day”, and why are we not going to hit it? It looks like we’re not because of the Government’s pathetic borders policy.’

Sir Keir criticised the Government for delays to introducing hotel quarantine, the confusing traffic light system for foreign travel, and the decision to delay putting India on the red list until late April.

‘The net result of (the Prime Minister’s) pathetic approach is that we’re going to have four weeks more of this.’

When pressed on Lord Lloyd Webber’s claims he is ready to be arrested if theatres cannot legally reopen, Sir Keir said: ‘I have to tell him to obey the rules and obey the law, of course I do. But I do understand the frustration.’ 

Sir Lindsay Hoyle has blasted Boris Johnson for setting out his lockdown decision at a press conference instead of to MPs as he accused the PM of ‘running roughshod’ over Parliament.

The Commons Speaker said Number 10’s treatment of Parliament has been ‘totally unacceptable’ as he again stressed that announcements should first be made at the despatch box.

Sir Lindsay, who has raised similar concerns in the past, said he intends to demand a face-to-face meeting with the premier to tell him that the Commons ‘matters’ and must be taken ‘seriously’.

Mr Johnson used a Downing Street press conference this evening to deliver an update on his lockdown exit roadmap.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was then scheduled to make a statement to MPs at around 8.30pm.

MPs are adamant that major announcements should be made to them first so that they can grill the Government.

Sir Howard, co-founder of theatre operator Trafalgar Entertainment, said theatre producers had ‘mobilised a whole industry’ on the condition they would be able to reopen on June 21.

The 72-year-old said: ‘The reality is we have marched the troops up the hill.

‘We have mobilised a whole industry in order to get going because we have been keeping the industry going for the last 15 months.

‘It costs money. We haven’t had Government help. We have kept it going. And now, surprise, surprise, the industry needs some income.

‘People need work. Thousands of people have been mobilised in order to work in the theatre industry, to start work from next Monday and now we are being told, apparently: ”Oh no, it’s not that date. It may be some other date, we don’t really know”.

‘The ramifications for the theatre industry are extremely serious. But also the ramifications for all the industries which frankly work with and collaborate with the theatre – restaurants, hotels, hospitality, transport, taxis.’ 

 However scientists backed the idea of a month-long delay.

Former chief scientific adviser Professor Sir Mark Walport told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that ‘it buys time if we prolong the current state of social distancing’.

He added: ‘It is a race between the vaccination and virus, and another four weeks makes a significant difference,

‘But I think it also will help us to really establish the extent to which the vaccination breaks or weakens the link between getting infection and getting the sort of serious effects of ending up in hospital, or potentially dying.

‘Also, we’ll get a lot more information – we’ll see what’s happening with hospital admissions, which, of course, lag infections.’

Professor Linda Bauld, from the University of Edinburgh, told LBC that the variant first identified in India now accounted for the majority of UK cases, but the death rate among people with this infection was low.

‘You can see amongst people who were infected with this variant, the mortality rate was 0.7%, just 12 people,’ she said.

‘We think they are all the people who had underlying health conditions and died with Covid, not from Covid necessarily.

‘So the proportion of people in hospital now is half of what it was, if we were in the previous situation in 2020 and 2021.’

She added: ‘We have weakened that link between infections and hospitalisations and death but we haven’t broken it.

‘And I think we can break it or certainly have it at a much higher level, if more people have both doses.’

Ministers were told that the four-week delay would likely prevent thousands of hospital admissions amid the rising Delta (Indian) variant – which is of particular concern to health officials over fears it partially evades vaccines.

A surge in the next few weeks would damage the NHS, as emergency departments have warned they are struggling with significant demand at the moment, The Guardian reports.   

The PM has previously said that the end of restrictions must be ‘irreversible’. 

One government source said restrictions could no longer be justified once over-50s had been vaccinated, adding: ‘The Prime Minister sees this as the final stretch and wants people to be patient. We are nearly there, it’s one last haul.’ 

Yesterday, millions of Britons put aside fears of a delay and headed out to cheer on the England football team during their Euro 2020 win over Croatia. On one of the hottest days of the year, beaches and parks were packed.

A Whitehall source said last night the Prime Minister was ‘determined’ to present a new exit plan ‘so this doesn’t just drag on’.

This is likely to involve a fresh drive to accelerate the rate of second jabs, which are seen as vital to halting the spread of the new variant. 

The source said: ‘It may be better to pause things rather than risk getting into a position where if things get prickly we have to go into reverse. But the PM is very clear that it cannot be indefinite.’ 

It comes after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said at the weekend that he could not give an ‘absolute guarantee’ that social distancing measures would be lifted by the end of August – prompting fears restrictions could roll on into the autumn.

Mr Johnson is facing a MPs’ revolt over the move to delay the final step of his lockdown-easing roadmap.

Mark Harper, chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, said a delay to Freedom Day would be ‘devastating for business confidence, people’s livelihoods and wellbeing’.  

He added: ‘Delaying June 21 will send a clear message to employers and workers that when Covid cases increase this (and every) autumn and winter, they cannot rely on the Government to keep our society open. 

‘It would be catastrophic for many businesses currently on life support.’ 

Douglas McWilliams, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said the delay was ‘a kick in the teeth’ for sectors such as hospitality. 

He said firms had spent ‘hundreds of millions of pounds’ preparing for the relaxation of social distancing rules.

Mr Johnson spent last night thrashing out details of the new exit plan at a crunch meeting with senior ministers and advisers. 

He was joined by Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, chief medical officer Chris Whitty, and chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance.

Whitehall sources said the PM had been persuaded by scientists to sanction a delay.

Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of a sub-group of the Government’s expert Sage committee, said Britain was facing a ‘substantial third wave’ of infections. 

Asked whether the next round of reopening should go ahead, he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘If you are driving down a road and coming to a bend, and you’re not quite sure what’s round that bend, you don’t put your foot on the accelerator.’

Scientists fear that although two doses of Covid vaccine provide good defence against the Indian variant, one gives only limited protection.

The Government’s target for giving all adults their first dose is not until the end of July, with second doses being given eight to 12 weeks later.

Mr Johnson refused to say what proportion of the public will have to be fully vaccinated before a full reopening can go ahead, although sources suggested he will set out more detail tonight.  

Furlough will NOT be extended: Rishi Sunak rejects pleas from businesses and says help scheme will begin to be phased out from July 1 – even though Freedom Day is postponed past that

by JOHN STEVENS, Political Editor, for the Daily Mail 

Demands from businesses to extend the furlough scheme were rejected by Rishi Sunak last night – despite the expected delay to ending lockdown.

The hugely expensive wage support fund is due to start being wound down at the end of this month.

As part of the Budget earlier this year, the Chancellor announced he would stop covering 80 per cent of the salaries of those not at work.

From July 1, the Government’s share will fall to 70 per cent with employers contributing 10 per cent, as part of a staged withdrawal of the scheme due to finish completely at the end of September.

Business groups including the British Chamber of Commerce yesterday urged the Chancellor to delay the wind down if lockdown is extended, while hospitality chiefs claimed as many as 200,000 jobs were at risk.

But sources close to Mr Sunak insisted the timetable for gradually withdrawing furlough would remain the same.

They said that by extending support to the end of September the Treasury had already ‘gone long’ in case there was any delay to reopening. Mr Sunak is also resisting calls to extend the business rates holiday that is also due to start being withdrawn at the end of the month.

Retail, hospitality and leisure premises have been helped with a 100 per cent relief since last March when the lockdowns first began. The Government is due to reduce the relief to 66 per cent from July 1 and it will remain in place until the end of March next year.

Trade body UKHospitality has called for Mr Sunak to keep the full relief in place for a further three months until the start of October.

Chief executive Kate Nicholls said yesterday: ‘We recognise that the Chancellor has provided long-term support for the sector which extends into the recovery period, but there is no doubt that any extension to the restrictions will be challenging for sectors yet to open and those still trading at a loss to navigate.’

She added: ‘Among other measures, the Government must postpone business rates payments until at least October and extend the rent moratorium while a long-term solution is found.

‘Businesses need a swift, publicly-stated commitment that such support will be in place in the event of any delays, giving them much-needed reassurance after more than 15 months of closure and severely disrupted trading.

‘Hospitality is desperate to get back to what it does best and can play a key role in the economic recovery of the UK – but only if it is given the proper support.’

Most recent figures showed there were 3.4million jobs on furlough at the end of April, which was 900,000 lower than the month before. Since the start of the scheme last March, a total of 11.5million jobs have been supported by furlough at some point at a cost of £64billion.