Boris to reveal Freedom Day plans in press conference on Monday

boris johnson
The PM will speak about the one metre-plus rule in hospitality venues, the use of masks, and working from home tomorrow (Picture: PA/Getty/Rex)

Boris Johnson will reveal his plans for Freedom Day in a press conference on Monday.

A formal announcement on whether the Government’s four tests for unlocking have been met will not take place until July 12.

But Downing Street said the prime minister will give an update tomorrow as he wants to give the public more time to prepare for the expected July 19 easing of restrictions.

Mr Johnson will speak about the one metre-plus rule in hospitality venues, the use of masks, and working from home.

Sources suggest the Tory leader is preparing to scrap social distancing measures and ditch legal requirements to wear face coverings.

Monday will also see ministers publish the results of reviews into the use of vaccine passports and the future of social distancing guidance, and update the nation on care homes.

Speaking before his announcement, Mr Johnson said people would have to ‘exercise judgment’ to protect themselves from coronavirus.

He said: ‘Thanks to the successful rollout of our vaccination programme, we are progressing cautiously through our road map.

‘Today we will set out how we can restore people’s freedoms when we reach Step 4.

‘But I must stress that the pandemic is not over and that cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks.

‘As we begin to learn to live with this virus, we must all continue to carefully manage the risks from Covid and exercise judgment when going about our lives.’

A passengers adheres to social distancing markers on the platform at Liverpool Street underground station in London, after the announcement of plans to bring the country out of lockdown. PA Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 13, 2020. Passengers travelling on public transport in the capital are being told to wear face coverings, with Transport for London (TfL) saying that the measure could prevent people with coronavirus infecting others. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire
A passenger adheres to social distancing markers on the platform at Liverpool Street underground station in London (Picture: PA)
Clara Bennathan, aged 24, receives a Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at an NHS Vaccination Clinic at Tottenham Hotspur's stadium in north London. The NHS is braced for high demand as anyone in England over the age of 18 can now book a Covid-19 vaccination jab. Picture date: Sunday June 20, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire
Clara Bennathan, aged 24, receives a Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at an NHS Vaccination Clinic at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium (Picture: PA)

Health Secretary Sajid Javid is set to announce plans to Parliament tomorrow.

It comes after Mr Johnson was previously blasted for his ‘entirely unacceptable’ decision to announce a delay in lifting lockdown restrictions to the media before ministers.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick shared a hopeful outlook today as he said he expected life to ‘return to normality as far as possible’ on July 19.

But a Sage psychologist has warned against trashing all restrictions while only half of England is fully vaccinated.

Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the subcommittee advising on behaviour, wrote on Twitter: ‘It is frightening to have a ‘Health’ Secretary who still thinks Covid is flu, who is unconcerned at levels of infection, who doesn’t realise that those who do best for health also do best for the economy, who wants to ditch all protections while only half of us are vaccinated.

‘Above all, it is frightening to have a “Health” Secretary who wants to make all protections a matter of personal choice when the key message of the pandemic is “this isn’t an I thing, it’s a we thing”. 

‘Your behaviour affects my health. Get your head around the “we” concept’.

It comes after Mr Javid said: ‘We are going to have to learn to accept the existence of Covid and find ways to cope with it – just as we already do with flu.’

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