Boris Johnson on Monday set out a four-step road map to end all Covid-19 restrictions by mid-June, as chancellor Rishi Sunak prepared to extend emergency economic life-support measures until the summer.
Johnson insisted that “the end really is in sight” but Sunak’s Budget on March 3 will include measures to protect jobs and help businesses through weeks or even months of further disruption.
Johnson resisted calls from some Tory MPs to fully reopen the economy by the end of April, instead favouring a “cautious” approach. He said he hoped it would be a “one-way road to freedom” but denied he was taking a “buccaneering” approach.
In a sign of the pressure weighing on the prime minister, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) released modelling studies by teams at Imperial College London and Warwick University with various scenarios for easing restrictions.
Even the more optimistic outcomes showed that more than 30,000…
