Cabinet wrangling over draconian quarantine hotels rules goes to the wire as ministers warn taxpayers face having to foot the bill for returning Britons who cannot pay £1,500 for a week - and it could take TWO WEEKS for system to get running
PM is expected to sign off quarantine hotel policy at a meeting later today after days of talks about policy
European resorts and beaches are deserted as Brits have their holidays cancelled and face months in UK
Growing signs Government is preparing to announce that all arrivals must quarantine for 10 days in hotels
Travel industry warns unless an end date is set UK could end up isolated for a year as happened in Australia
Boris Johnson said England’s schools would reopen “as fast as possible” as he faced Tory pressure to set out a timetable for pupils to return.
The Prime Minister said the Government would be “looking at the potential of relaxing some measures” as England’s lockdown restrictions are reviewed on February 15 but could not guarantee that pupils would return to classes before Easter.
“There’s nothing I want to do more than reopen schools, I’ve fought to keep schools open for as long as I possibly could,” Mr Johnson said.
“We want to see schools back as fast as possible, we want to do that in a way that is consistent with fighting the epidemic and keeping the infection rate down.”
UK PM Hints At Lockdown Easing As Pressure Grows To Reopen Schools
Mon, 25th Jan 2021 11:31
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is examining whether some lockdown measures could be lifted once the highest priority groups have been vaccinated as he came under pressure to reopen England s schools.
The prime minister said the government was looking at the potential of relaxing some measures but refused to guarantee that pupils would return to classes before Easter.
His comments come as a surprise as Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggested on Sunday any relaxation was a long, long way off.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to a vaccination site at Barnet Football Club in north London, Johnson said ministers were looking at infection rates and progress in vaccinating the top priority groups, which are expected to be completed by mid-February.