Ministers ‘are split’ over whether to keep lockdown beyond June 21

Crucial decisions on ditching social distancing and allowing bigger weddings could be delayed amid the the India variant alert, No10 admitted today.

The PM’s spokesman warned that Boris Johnson’s promise to announce the plans well ahead of the next stage of the lockdown roadmap on June 21 is no longer set in stone.

They also cautioned that the date still cannot be guaranteed – with ministers said to be at loggerheads over whether to push back to protect what one described as ‘idiot’ vaccine refuseniks from the new strain.

Tory MPs have been making their feelings clear on the issue, insisting ‘profound curtailment of freedom’ cannot carry on because small numbers of people are ‘freely choosing’ not to get jabs. One told MailOnline that Matt Hancock had ‘gone native’ and was siding with the ‘most fearful scientists’. 

However, Downing Street said that if the Indian variant ends up being far more potent it would also pose a risk to people who have been vaccinated. 

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisted this morning he is still ‘confident’ and ‘fully expects’ the schedule to be kept despite anxiety about surging cases in ‘hotspots’.

However, he warned against ‘stigmatising’ those who do not want to get jabs. Summing up the dilemma over June 21 one minister told Politico: ‘The risk is that a small number of idiots ruin it for everyone else.’

Meanwhile, there is swirling speculation that local curbs might needed in England to keep the wider easing on track – with Scotland already targeting restrictions on specific areas. 

At a briefing this afternoon, the PM’s spokesman was challenged on whether the conclusions of the social distancing review – potentially scrapping the one metre-plus rule – will be unveiled by the end of the month as expected.   

‘We want to do it as soon as possible but, as I have set out, we need time to assess the latest data on this variant first identified in India,’ the spokesman said.

‘So I am not going to give a set time for doing that, like you say, given this change in circumstance.

‘But we want to do everything possible to give people enough time to prepare.’

Asked whether that also applied to Mr Johnson’s promise to clarify rules on weddings, the spokesman said: ‘Like I say, we need to, because of this variant, because of this change that has brought in this new threat that we have from the variant, we need to look at the data.

‘So of course we want to give as much time as possible to everyone in businesses or individuals to prepare.

‘It is also right that we have the latest data upon which to base that judgement.’  

The wrangling is escalating after Mr Johnson urged families to adopt a ‘heavy dose of caution’ with the ban on indoor socialising and hugs finally ending today. 

In a guarded statement before revellers packed into pubs to celebrate the lifting of restrictions, the Prime Minister said the emergence of the Indian strain of coronavirus meant the restored freedoms should be exercised carefully.

Britain recorded four new daily Covid deaths and 1,926 cases yesterday as Matt Hancock urged people to hug ‘carefully’ and get jabbed to prevent the new Indian strain spreading ‘like wildfire’.  

The government’s Covid dashboard showed there was an eight per cent increase in cases over last week, as most of the UK loosens Covid restrictions.   

The UK’s daily death toll has doubled on last week, from two on May 9 to four yesterday – bringing the UK total to 127,679 dead. There were a reported 129 people on ventilation in hospital in the UK and 991 people currently hospitalised due to virus, as of Thursday May 13 – the latest figures available. 

From today, pubs, restaurants and cafes can serve customers indoors, cinemas and hotels can reopen and people can embrace loved ones from other households for the first time in more than a year.

Tory MPs called on Mr Johnson to reject warnings from scientists that lockdown curbs may have to remain in place longer because of the new variant.

Mark Harper, head of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group, said: ‘Concerning to hear Govt is entertaining the delay of the 21 June unlocking – causing massive problems for many people’s livelihoods – because some people won’t have a jab. 

‘Wider society’s fate can’t be sealed by the actions of a small group of people, whatever their reasoning.’ 

Former minister Simon Clarke said: ‘The evidence is increasingly encouraging that vaccination works against the Indian variant. 

‘It’s vital people take the vaccine when offered – our wider society should not be held back from recovering our freedoms by those who choose not to protect themselves and others.’ 

Another ex-minister, Conor Burns, said it would ‘not be right’ to hold the whole population back. ‘As a nation we have tolerated with generally good humour the most profound curtailment of our freedoms in peacetime for the greater good,’ he said. ‘It wouldn’t be right to do it again for those who have been offered a vaccine and have freely chosen not to take it – fully aware of the risks.’ 

Lord Lloyd-Webber said people refusing to take up the offer of a coronavirus vaccine were ‘selfish’ as they could hinder the ability to lift all restrictions next month.

The composer said he would not be opening shows in his theatres until all measures are scrapped as they were ‘too costly’ to play to reduced audiences.

The peer told BBC Radio 4’s World At One the June 21 date was ‘absolutely critical’, adding: ‘If that doesn’t happen, I really don’t even want to think about it.

‘It has been such a devastating time for everybody.

‘I just feel so strongly at the moment, particularly the people who are not getting vaccinated and everything, just how selfish it is because so many people depend on this June 21 date, they really depend on it.

‘I’d say to everybody, please support theatre and live music – it is the heartbeat of the country, what we do. It is essential.

‘Support your theatres everywhere and get vaccinated.’

However, No10 stressed the concern about the Indian variant was not solely about people unwilling or unable to take a vaccine – but the risk that people who had received a jab would still be vulnerable.

In a worst-case scenario, there could be a ‘situation where not just individuals who are vaccine resistant or vaccine hesitant or those who have not sought out their first jab might catch coronavirus but those who have had the first dose or those who have had two doses but for whom vaccine efficacy is reduced’.

‘That would then lead to increased hospitalisations and put unsustainable pressure on our NHS. That’s the situation we are attempting to avoid here,’ the spokesman said.

Pressed on whether officials could go door to door to combat vaccine hesitancy, the spokesman said: ‘Firstly it’s really important whenever talking about hesitancy to highlight the fact that we have the most enthusiastic population for vaccine uptake in the world and that enthusiasm has only increased as we’ve progressed on the rollout.

‘But that said we are not complacent and there are a number of different approaches we’re taking with vaccine-hesitant groups to engage them whether be it via social media, with community leaders directly, using trusted voices, clinical voices, and that work continues.’

Mr Kwarteng told Sky News there is ‘no reason’ to think the June 21 loosening cannot go ahead.

‘I think if we act in a reasonable way, there is no reason to suppose that we can’t reopen the economy entirely on June 21,’ he said.

‘I think there has to be a degree of common sense, a bit of caution and people shouldn’t be running away being too exuberant, I suppose.

‘I think we just need to be measured and cautious.’

Asked whether the unlocking next month could still happen despite a growing number of Indian variant cases being recorded, Mr Kwarteng said that he ‘fully expects’ to be reopened by June 21, adding: ‘I think it is very likely to happen.

‘I’ve said the vaccines are working against the Indian variant, I think we’ve got to look at the numbers so we’ve got some flexibility but there is nothing I have seen and nothing the Prime Minister has seen up to now that suggests we are going to delay that June 21 date.’

But health experts have told Britons to ignore Government advice and stay outside, despite today’s relaxation of lockdown rules.   

Professor Sir Mark Walport, a member of the Sage scientific advisory group, warned the pandemic was at a ‘perilous moment’ and it was ‘extremely important’ to keep a close eye on the numbers over the next few weeks.

‘My personal judgement is that I will do things outside as far as possible,’ he said. ‘My advice is that just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should.’

When asked by Sky News’ Sophie Ridge if that meant he would be staying outside, he replied: ‘Outside for the moment, yes.’

And professor of public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Martin McKee, agreed, telling the Guardian: ‘Based on the precautionary principle and on the experience in earlier waves, I am very concerned. Personally I will not be going indoors in bars or restaurants for some time.’

Nicola Sturgeon issued a warning this morning as most of Scotland moved to Level 2 of the country’s coronavirus restrictions.

The First Minister tweeted: ‘Covid restrictions ease further today as many parts of Scotland move to level 2 (sadly not yet Glasgow City or Moray) and many islands to level 1.

‘This is a long awaited moment but remember that the virus still poses a big threat, so please continue to be cautious & very careful.’

Matt Hancock insisted yesterday ministers will not allow the new variant to ‘spread like wildfire’ and suggested only the fully vaccinated should embrace, and even then outdoors.

He made clear that returning to a system of Tiers, as was in place in England last autumn, was on the cards, although he also insisted he was not convinced it had been highly effective.     

The Health Secretary also infuriated travel firms by warning against trips abroad, despite today’s lifting of the ban on foreign holidays.

Sir Graham Brady, a senior Tory MP, urged the Prime Minister not to ‘panic’ over the new variant, which is still rare in the UK.

And his colleague Iain Duncan Smith said it was ‘bonkers’ to even consider further delays to reopening when evidence suggested existing vaccines worked against the Indian strain. 

Today’s easing of Covid curbs is the biggest since the latest lockdown began in January.

Hotels and B&Bs can reopen to take advantage of the lifting of the ban on overnight stays while cinemas, museums and soft play centres can reopen their doors. The £5,000 fines for taking a foreign holiday will be scrapped.

Economists believe that families could splash out more than £800million this week as they celebrate the chance to meet loved ones again for the first time in months.

However Mr Johnson warned: ‘Together we have reached another milestone in our roadmap out of lockdown, but we must take this next step with a heavy dose of caution.

‘We are keeping the spread of the variant first identified in India under close observation and taking swift action where infection rates are rising.’

A week ago he declared Britain was on track to lift all remaining Covid curbs on June 21. But he rowed back from the pledge on Friday, saying the emergence of the new variant meant there was now ‘a real risk of disruption’.

The dramatic shift in tone followed a warning from government scientists that the fast-spreading variant could spark a surge in cases, especially with the resumption of indoor socialising.

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, said early data on the effectiveness of the vaccines on the Indian variant looked ‘OK’.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain said: ‘People are getting in a panic about this new variant, when we should be celebrating the fact that the vaccines work – it is bonkers.

‘Ministers have to avoid the Corporal Jones mentality, tell the scientists to get back to their labs and get on with giving people back their freedom.’

With the Foreign Office now advising against travel to Israel, Portugal is the only sizeable ‘green list’ destination for British travellers looking to use their new freedom.

Government sources said the release of an updated version of the NHS app did not mean Covid passports would be introduced domestically.