Politics latest news: Boris Johnson to announce roadmap out of lockdown on Feb 22 - but no decision yet on schools

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Back to school: Boris Johnson will show his working for the roadmap on Feb 22 - Reuters
Back to school: Boris Johnson will show his working for the roadmap on Feb 22 - Reuters

Boris Johnson will be setting out his roadmap out of lockdown on February 22, but no decision has yet been taken on schools, a minister has said.

Victoria Atkins has confirmed the Prime Minister will be making his announcement the Monday - rather than the week of, as suggested by Downing Street yesterday - keeping hopes alive that schools can reopen on March 8 as promised.

But the Home Office minister stressed that no decisions had been taken yet, including on schools, saying: "I've been very careful, as has been the case throughout, to make clear that decision will be based on the data."

She told Sky News: "Next week is a critical week, we are going to gather all of the data – both internationally and our own data."

The equivocation from Number 10 yesterday has prompted concern among several senior Tories, who have warned the Prime Minister that reopening schools on March 8 must be "signed in blood, not a line in the sand".

Follow the latest updates below.

08:25 AM

Minister defends quarantine hotels policy after outbreak in Australia

A minister has defended the use of quarantine hotels, following the outbreak of the UK variant in an Australian hotel.

A fresh Covid-19 cluster reached 13 cases as of Thursday midnight, as Melbourne authorities rushed to quash the spread of the virus.

Victoria Aitkins, the Home Office minister, told Radio 4's Today programme: "We have looked very carefully at this [policy] - you will appreciate this is a very fast evolving story.

"We can only look at the data we have in front of us, and we are satisfied these quarantining rules are the way in which we can help to control the spread of variants.

"But the first and most fundamental rule is that you should not be travelling abroad... unless you have an essential reason for doing."

08:20 AM

Reasonable to allow quarantine hotel residents 'a gulp of fresh air', says minister

Allowing people who are staying in quarantine hotels "a gulp of fresh air" is reasonable, a minister has said.

This is one of a handful of measures that are different to set-ups in other countries such as Australia, including the thickness of face masks for staff, and a lack of compulsory daily tests for staff.

In Australia, people staying in quarantine hotels are not allowed to leave their rooms. However, the UK's rules state that security staff can "accompany any of the arrived individuals to access outside space should they need to smoke or get fresh air".

Victoria Atkins told the BBC's Today programme: "We have our own measures in our own country. The hotels will be adhering to very strict measures in relation to social distancing and face masks and so on.

"Allowing someone a gulp of fresh air... with all the very strict measures we have is very reasonable."

However the Home Office minister stressed that all measures would be kept under review.

08:13 AM

Wales to experience 'small dip' in vaccine supplies, says First Minister

There will be a "small dip in the volume of vaccine coming to Wales" over the next two weeks, the First Minister has said.

Mark Drakeford told BBC Breakfast that those already vaccinated would receive second doses and anyone in the next five priority groups would begin to receive their first doses.

"Then in March, the volume of vaccine accelerates again and that gives us confidence that we will complete the vaccination of the next five priority groups by this spring," Mr Drakeford said. "That's what we promised we would do, we remain firmly on track to deliver that."

Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government was "confident" it would vaccinate the top nine priority groups by the spring and aimed to reach the rest of the population by the autumn.

"Plans are already being made because we will need the vaccination centres, we will need the staff to deliver it, we will need the systems to contact people and all of that is being worked on now," he said.

08:11 AM

Minister appears to rule out suggestion that cases must fall below 10,000 before lockdown is lifted

A minister has appeared to rule out suggestions from Sir Jeremy Farrar that the Government wait until daily cases fall below 10,000 to lift lockdown.

The director of the Wellcome Trust made the comments yesterday, prompting concern among senior Tories that the goalposts are being moved ahead of Boris Johnson setting out his roadmap.

"We should aim that this is the last lockdown of this level in the UK, but that can only be true if transmission is much lower in the UK," he told Radio 4's Today programme, saying that should be brought down to the "single thousands" before measures are eased. There are currently 750,000 people in UK infected with Covid.

Victoria Atkins, the Home Office minister, told Sky News the Prime Minister was conscious of the "difficult balancing act of keeping the public with us, keeping us all united in wanting to stick to the rules, but also has to keep an eye on the economy."

08:05 AM

UK Covid strain shuts down Melbourne amid fears over speed of outbreak

Melbourne will enter a five-day snap coronavirus lockdown tonight, fearing the UK variant is spreading much faster than previous outbreaks.

A fresh Covid-19 cluster linked to a quarantine hotel in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, reached 13 cases as of Thursday midnight, as authorities rushed to quash the spread of the virus. All of those infections were linked to the highly contagious UK variant.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced the lockdown for the state, starting at midnight on Friday, calling it a "short, sharp circuit breaker" banning public gatherings, home auctions, weddings and religious gatherings. It means spectators will be barred for much of the Australian Open tennis tournament.

"We must assume that there are further cases in the community than we have positive results for, and that it is moving at a velocity that has not been seen anywhere in our country over the course of these last 12 months," Mr Andrews told reporters.

Read more in our Covid live blog here.

08:00 AM

Wales set to become first nation to have offered vaccines to top four groups

Wales will become the first of the four nations to offer vaccinations to everyone in the top four priority groups, Mark Drakeford has said.

Everyone in the most vulnerable cohorts will have received "invitations to come in" for a Covid-19 jab "at the very latest over the weekend".

Mr Drakeford told BBC Breakfast: "There are 740,000 people in Wales in those four groups, 689,000 of them had already been vaccinated by the end of Wednesday.

"We expect, when we have yesterday's figure, to go well past the 700,000 barrier today.

"We know that all of those who are yet to be vaccinated will have had invitations to come in by the end of today or at the very latest over the weekend."

07:58 AM

Economy has suffered 'serious shock' from pandemic, after economy shrinks nearly 10pc, says Chancellor

Rishi Sunak has said the economy suffered a "serious shock", after figures showed the UK suffered a record decline last year.

GDP shrank 9.9 per cent in 2020, ONS data shows.

The Chancellor said: “Today’s figures show that the economy has experienced a serious shock as a result of the pandemic, which has been felt by countries around the world. While there are some positive signs of the economy’s resilience over the winter, we know that the current lockdown continues to have a significant impact on many people and businesses."

He promised his Budget would see him “set out the next stage of our Plan for Jobs, and the support we’ll provide through the next phase of pandemic.”

07:46 AM

Stealth tax raid on personal allowances to raise £6bn

The Treasury is considering freezing personal income tax allowances in next month's Budget in a "stealth" tax raid that could bring in up to £6 billion, The Telegraph can disclose.

Officials are interested in scrapping the planned increases to both the £12,500 and £50,000 thresholds in a move that would result in tens of millions of people paying more.

Freezing the thresholds would effectively cancel planned tax relief, with the average family forecast to miss out on a £250-a-year saving by 2024-25.

Such a move is often described as a "stealth tax" because no tax rates are being increased – meaning the risk of a voter backlash is lessened – but a large amount of revenue is raised.

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