BORIS Johnson said that it is "absolutely right" to take the "data not dates" approach ahead of easing restrictions in England.
Britain's lockdown fate could be decided as early as tomorrow when the PM receives the latest covid figures.
The crunch document will outline exactly where the UK is at the moment in terms of cases, deaths, tests and vaccines and will likely be the report which either confirms or changes Boris' lockdown roadmap plans.
On Monday the PM will announce the UK's route out of lockdown, which he insisted would be "cautious but irreversible".
Follow our live blog below for the very latest UK politics news…
- Katie Davis
BRITS COULD BE ALLOWED TO HOLD HANDS OF ELDERLY LOVED ONES WITHIN WEEKS
Brits could be allowed to hold hands with elderly loved ones again within weeks under plans to open up care home visits, a minister declared today.
Care minister Helen Whately said the “tremendous pace” of vaccinations means visiting rules for residential homes could soon be relaxed.
While some exceptional care home visits are currently allowed, many people have been unable to see their loved ones for almost a year.
But with the jabs rollout now topping 16 million people, Ms Whately said she “really, really wants” to reunite families again.
And she insisted that could happen before care home residents have had their second jab – raising the prospect of rules being eased within weeks.
- Katie Davis
VACCINE PASSPORTS MAY BE NEEDED FOR CINEMA TRIPS
Vaccine passports could be needed to go to the cinema and theatre under plans being pushed by some ministers to help get “dying” businesses open again faster.
Boris Johnson is being urged to reconsider his opposition to issuing jabs certificates, which inoculated people would be able to use to get their lives back to normal.
Meanwhile, increasing numbers of firms are defying Government pleas and eyeing up “no jab, no job” policies for staff who want or need to physically return to work.
But the PM is instead pressing ahead with plans for a testing blitz of millions of people to help get the country out of lockdown and into “a new normal”.
Downing St is finalising the plan, which will run under the slogan “Are you ready? Get testing. Go.”
- Katie Davis
LOCKDOWN TO BE LIFTED IN STAGES, PM CONFIRMS
Boris Johnson has confirmed the lockdown will be lifted in stages, and warned the hospitality industry is likely to be the last to reopen fully.
The PM said he'll take a "cautious and prudent approach" to rolling back restrictions ahead of a major speech next Monday.
During a visit to Wales, he insisted the Government will take things slowly because it doesn't want to have to reimpose curbs on daily life.
Boris said: "We'll be setting out what we can on Monday 22 about the way ahead, and it'll be based firmly on a cautious and prudent approach to coming out of lockdown in such a way as to be irreversible.
“We want to be going one way from now on based on the incredible vaccination rollout. I certainly think that we need to go in stages, we need to go cautiously."
- Katie Davis
VOTERS EXPECTED TO HAVE TO SHOW ID FROM 2023
Voters are expected to have to show ID to vote by 2023 under a crackdown on voter fraud.
Anyone without a form of photo ID such as a passport or driving license will have to contact their council before polling day to confirm their ID if they want to cast their ballot.
At the moment people simply turn up, give their name and address and are allowed to vote.
Meanwhile, Brits living abroad will see their right to vote in UK elections extended beyond the current 15 year cap – allowing them to take part in votes indefinitely.
The new plans will come as part of the Electoral Integrity Bill, which will be introduced to MPs in the next few months.
- Katie Davis
SCHOOLS WILL BE FIRST TO REOPEN
The PM will set out the plans for easing lockdown on Monday.
Schools are set to be the first things to reopen from March 8 onwards – pending any dramatic shift in infections or hospitalisations.
However, it's not yet clear whether it will be all pupils or they will stagger them.
It may be that some kids in key exam years will go back first, followed by others at a later date.
Professor Neil Ferguson backed the reopening of schools this week, adding he was “very surprised and encouraged by how quickly case numbers have been coming down in recent weeks”.
- Katie Davis
PM 'SHOULD GIVE TAX BREAKS TO BRITS WHO BUY ELECTRIC CARS'
BORIS Johnson should slash VAT on home insulation and give tax breaks to Brits who buy electric cars, MPs have demanded.
Ministers must incentivise cash-strapped Brits to build back greener after the Covid crisis, the Environmental Audit Committee said.
In a string of recommendations, they called on the chancellor to use the upcoming Budget to slash VAT on products which make homes more energy efficient – like double glazing and home insulation.
And MPs said "tax incentives" should be created to help Brits switch over to pricey electric cars and make them more affordable.
The group also called on ministers to look at a carbon border tax – something the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng floated last week.
- Katie Davis
'NEGLIGENT' TO WAIT TOO LONG BEFORE COMPENSATING FRONTLINE WORKERS
Dr Helena McKeown, chairwoman of the British Medical Association's representative body, said it would be "negligent" to wait too long before compensating frontline workers who have long Covid.
When it was put to her that the Government might argue it is focusing on investing in research to understand the condition before thinking about compensation, she told BBC Breakfast: "I think that's negligent of them.
"We know people – doctors, nurses, other frontline key workers – who contracted Covid back in the spring (last year) and still have symptoms.
"Some people have already lost their livelihoods. We know GPs who have had to leave their practices, and other doctors and healthcare workers."
- Katie Davis
RISHI SUNAK 'WILL HOBBLE PM'S ECO-DRIVE'
Rishi Sunak would hobble Boris Johnson’s eco-drive if he axes the Green Homes Grant, say environmental groups.
There are fears the Chancellor may chop the £5,000 payments at next month’s Budget amid concerns of low take-up.
Just days ago, MPs blasted the “snail’s pace” of the roll-out after it emerged that only 20,000 out of 600,000 grants for energy-saving improvements, such as better insulation and boilers, had so far been made.
Environment groups have written to the PM and Chancellor warning that the UK would “lose international credibility” if it cuts funding for the scheme.
Greenpeace, the National Trust, Friends of the Earth and a string of other groups and campaigners are urging them not to “allow the green stimulus to fail”.
- Katie Davis
SPAIN AND US COULD JOIN TRAVEL RED-LIST
Spain and the US could be added to England's high-risk red list of 33 countries.
This means all travel to and from the country would be banned, excluding British nationals returning home.
In addition, anyone entering England from these two countries would be required to self-isolate for ten days at a government-approved quarantine hotel, costing up to £1,750 per person.
There are currently 33 countries on the UK's travel ban list which includes Portugal, South America and South African nations.
According to The Telegraph, the Department Of Transport met with health officials yesterday to discuss the latest date on new variants in both Spain and the US. A decision will be made on whether to add the countries to the red list at the Cabinet Covid operations committee this week.
- Katie Davis
SCHOOL TESTING 'A WORK IN PROGRESS'
Health minister Helen Whately says plans for schools testing are a "work in progress".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "There is work being done to look at how testing will help schools come back.
"But there will be more details set out about that next week."
Asked about press reports that parents could be asked to test their children at home, she added: "I'm not going to get drawn into that, there is work in progress looking at how testing can support schools to come back."
- Katie Davis
PM TO DECIDE 'ROADMAP TO RECOVERY' BASED ON DOSSIER
Boris Johnson is believed to have been handed a dossier of data last night to help him decide the speed of his "Roadmap to Recovery" blueprint.
The PM will use the numbers to shape his official plan to ease lockdown, to be published on Monday.
Mr Johnson this week vowed to be driven by data not dates in his “cautious and prudent” lifting of Covid restrictions, starting on March 8 with reopening schools.
But The Sun understands the document will also mention other specific dates as the earliest possible opportunity for shops and pubs to reopen if cases continue to fall and vaccinations lead to a decline in deaths.
The PM is due to receive the up-to-date analysis by this morning at the latest. It will show for the first time how effective the Oxford jab has been.
- Katie Davis
LOCAL LOCKDOWNS COULD BE USED TO STOP MUTANT STRAINS
Pop-up postcode lockdowns could be used to squash future outbreaks of new Covid variants under plans to end the national lockdown.
The PM has instructed Whitehall to come up with the blueprint after saying he wants to lift nationwide restrictions for good.
It will be built on the experiences of last year's tiers system and this month's localised mass-testing effort to contain the South African variant.
Targeted shutdowns would be imposed in post-codes where new variants are identified to stop the spread of potentially vaccine resistant mutations.
They will be accompanied by surge testing and a detailed contact tracing system to try and squash any outbreaks early on.
- Katie Davis
COVID CASES DOWN TWO-THIRDS SINCE JANUARY
Covid cases have dropped by two thirds since January in a “better decline than we could have hoped for”.
Scientists hailed the plummeting cases as “really encouraging” yesterday, but warned pressure on hospitals must ease before we unlock the country.
Britain’s biggest virus infection survey found the R rate is down to 0.7, even as low as 0.6 in London.
The React study, by Imperial College London, carried out swab tests on 85,000 people across England between February 6 and 13.
They revealed all regions of England have seen a fall in cases – with London, the South East and West Midlands seeing the biggest dip.
- Katie Davis
ALMOST 2M BRITS HAVEN'T WORKED FOR SIX MONTHS
Almost two million people have not worked for at least six months as Covid ravages the economy, research shows.
The Resolution Foundation said 1.9 million workers were unemployed or fully furloughed in January, and had been since at least July.
The figures reveal the damage to the labour force which next month’s Budget must address, the think tank added.
Nye Cominetti, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: "Ten months into the crisis, almost two million people have now been affected by long Covid in the labour market, having not worked for at least six months.
"While the UK's economic prospects are finally looking up, job insecurity remains high, particularly among those who have spent long periods not working, or who are currently furloughed."
- Abe Hawken
LONG-TERM
The Government has been urged to launch a compensation scheme for frontline workers who are suffering from the long-term effects of coronavirus.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus said Prime Minister Boris Johnson should recognise long Covid as an occupational disease, saying some sufferers have found it hard to return to work.
Symptoms of long Covid include ongoing fatigue, loss of taste or smell, and respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and this week Professor Danny Altmann, from Imperial College London, said up to 20% of patients are reporting symptoms of the disease weeks after becoming ill.
- Abe Hawken
PHOTO ID
Voters will reportedly be required to bring photo ID when casting their ballots in elections from 2023.
The proposal is part of a new Electoral Integrity Bill which will form part of the Queen’s Speech in spring and be in force by the time local elections are held two years from now, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The paper said passports, driving licences, and other cards – such as library, bus or rail with a photo – will be required for someone to be given a ballot.
- Abe Hawken
'FORK IN THE ROAD'
A new partnership between business and the state is needed as the country rebuilds from the coronavirus crisis, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will say.
Next month’s Budget represents a “fork in the road” for British society, with a chance to reject the “insecure and unequal economy” of the past, he will say in a speech on Thursday.
Sir Keir, who has faced criticism over his leadership in recent weeks, will use the address to set out a long-term vision for the economy.
- Niamh Cavanagh
ONE IN FOUR UK FIRMS PLAN TO FIRE STAFF IF FURLOUGH ENDS SOON SAYS BCC
A quarter of British businesses expect to fire staff if finance minister Rishi Sunak does not extend a job furlough programme that is due to expire at the end of April, the British Chambers of Commerce said on Thursday.
Sunak is due to deliver his annual budget on March 3 and has promised to provide more support for jobs hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
But he is also mindful that COVID-related spending has already pushed Britain's budget deficit to its highest since World War Two.
Britain entered a third national lockdown last month, which forced schools and most businesses to close their doors to the public, although staff can continue to work on site if there is no good alternative.
- Niamh Cavanagh
CONTINUED
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Britain’s largest union for secondary heads, had wanted pupils to be given home test kits to avoid schools becoming “field hospitals”.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the ASCL, said: “We think that is a good idea.
“It reinforces the responsibility for families rather than assuming that bits of the state, like schools, will carry out the tests.”
Union bosses and government officials are due to thrash out the mass testing plan on Thursday.
- Niamh Cavanagh
PASS THE TEST
Parents will be asked to test their children for Covid twice a week under the government's plan to reopen schools, it's reported.
Secondary school pupils' families will be given lateral flow tests to administer at home, it is claimed.
Schools would also oversee mass testing of pupils once at the start of term, The Telegraph reports.
Classrooms are set to reopen from March 8, with Boris Johnson due to unveil his roadmap out of Covid lockdown on Monday.
- Niamh Cavanagh
BORIS TO RECEIVE DOSSIER TOMORROW THAT WILL DECIDE LOCKDOWN FATE
Boris Johnson will be handed a dossier of data as soon as tomorrow evening that will decide the fate of this year’s summer.
The Prime Minister is due to receive the latest vaccine analysis by Friday morning that will show for the first time how effective the Oxford jab has been on Brits.
He will then use that data bundle to finalise his road-map to freedom with a core team of ministers and aides over the weekend.
The PM warned today the lockdown lifting will “be based firmly on a cautious and prudent approach”.
Last week’s encouraging data showed just one jab of the Pfizer vaccine provided two-thirds protection against the virus in boosting hopes of a swift return to normality.
- Niamh Cavanagh
CONTINUED
Northern Ireland is following the EU's trade rules to prevent a hard land border with the Republic.
That entails extra paperwork on goods shipped from Great Britain.
Mr Sefcovic has said mistakes were made in the process leading up to the EU's recent attempt to trigger Article 16 of the protocol to prevent coronavirus vaccine supplies entering the rest of the UK via the Republic and Northern Ireland.
Mr Sefcovic said the commission "deeply regrets" how it handled the issue.
Mr Roberts added: "We should ensure that we have appropriate changes in the protocol that work for all retailers and wholesalers, whether they are independent or multiple.
"There is an emerging clear consensus that we need the grace period extended and we need long-term solutions."
- Niamh Cavanagh
RETAILERS: EUROPEAN COMMISSION VICE-PRESIDENT NEEDS TO ENGAGE ON TRADE
Independent retailers in Northern Ireland have urged the European Commission vice-president to engage with them on post-Brexit trade.
On Thursday Maros Sefcovic is holding a meeting with business leaders on problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Glyn Roberts, chief executive of Retail NI, said his independent shopkeeper members were facing a double-whammy of complications obtaining supplies from the rest of the UK and pandemic pressures.
He said: "I do think it is important that the European Commission vice-president engages with a wide cross-section of the business community, one that is representative of the economy here. We have got a contribution to make. This is a small business economy. Retailers play a bigger role in our economy than is the case in the rest of the UK. We want to ensure that voice is heard."
- Niamh Cavanagh
ENGLAND'S VACCINE ROLLOUT
undefined - Niamh Cavanagh
BREXIT: GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLEDGES 'NON-TARIFF TRADING BARRIERS' HAVE EMERGED
The Government has conceded that some "non-tariff trading barriers" have emerged due to the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.
Boris Johnson insisted that there would be no such barriers as he detailed his deal brokered with Brussels, which came into force when the transition period ended on December 31.
But on Thursday the Government acknowledged some had emerged as well as "supply-chain challenges".
Labour said ministers were admitting "what has been clear for weeks" and urged them to reduce the bureaucracy to prevent costs being driven up for British exporters.
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