All rules on social distancing and mask-wearing are set to be torn up in England on 19 July, as Boris Johnson brushed aside appeals from city mayors and unions to keep safety restrictions on public transport, in shops and in workplaces.
In a press conference from Downing Street, the prime minister announced that following the end of step 4 of his roadmap out of lockdown, individuals will be asked to take personal responsibility for making their own decisions on whether to wear masks and keep their distance from one another.
Limits on attendance at mass events like concerts and sports matches will be scrapped, while requirements for table service in pubs and restaurants will go, businesses of all kinds - including nightclubs - will reopen, and people will be allowed to gather in groups of any size indoors or outside.
The requirement to work from home where possible will be lifted, and employers will be asked to consult with staff on the return to the workplace.
Mr Johnson confirmed that he intends the delayed step 4 of the roadmap - initially pencilled in for 21 June, but held back because of the surge in cases of the infectious Delta variant of Covid - to take place on 19 July. But he stressed that ministers will not take a final decision until assessing the latest data on 12 July against their four tests for safe reopening.
Recommended World ‘likely to get more dangerous’ over next five years, says Boris Johnson’s national security adviser Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces Boris Johnson says rules on face masks and social distancing set to be torn up on 19 July
And he said that there would be no mandatory “Covid passports” to control entry into venues such as pubs and restaurants - though businesses can impose schemes of their own.
The interval between vaccine doses will be cut for under-40s from 12 to eight weeks, allowing everyone over 18 to receive two jabs by the middle of September.
One scientist warned warned the PM was “playing with fire” by introducing new freedoms which might allow vaccine-resistant variants of Covid to develop.
Daily infections are currently running at more than 25,000, and Mr Johnson admitted that positive cases may hit 50,000 a day by 19 July.
The Unite union branded the decision to end mandatory mask use on buses and trains “an act of gross negligence by the government” at a time when infection rates of Covid-19 continue to rise.
A YouGov poll found that 71 per cent believe face masks should remain mandatory on public transport and 66 per cent in shops for a further period after restrictions are lifted.
And London mayor Sadiq Khan and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham issued appeals for Mr Johnson to rethink the change.
Mr Burnham said: “I struggle to see how ministers can drop the requirement to wear masks on public transport without causing real problems for some people who are dependent on it. Those more vulnerable to infection or anxious about it will be put in a very unfair position.”
And after talks with Transport for London, Mr Khan said: “The simplest and safest option going forward would be for the government to retain the requirement for face coverings on public transport”.
While transport operators will be able to require mask use as a condition of travel, the prospect of confusion caused by differing rules on the complex network of publicly and privately-operated bus, train and tram services means it is thought unlikely that many will attempt to do so.
UK news in pictures Show all 51
1/51UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures 5 July 2021 Alexander Zverev playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round of the Gentlemen's Singles on Court 1 on day seven of Wimbledon at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
PA
UK news in pictures 4 July 2021 Aaron Carty and the Beyoncé Experience perform on stage during UK Black Pride at The Roundhouse in London
Getty for UK Black Pride
UK news in pictures 3 July 2021 England’s Jordan Henderson celebrates after scoring his first international goal, his side’s fourth against Ukraine during the Euro 2020 quarter final match at the Olympic stadium in Rome
AP
UK news in pictures 2 July 2021 Dan Evans serves against Sebastian Korda during their men’s singles third round match at Wimbledon
Getty
UK news in pictures 1 July 2021 Prince William, left and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London
AP
UK news in pictures 30 June 2021 Dancers from the Billingham Festival and Balbir Singh Dance Company, during a preview for the The Two Fridas, UK Summer tour, presented by Billingham International Folklore Festival of World Dance in collaboration with Balbir Singh Dance Company, inspired by the life and times of female artists Frida Kahlo and Amrita Sher-Gil , which opens on July 10 at Ushaw Historic House, Chapel and Gardens in Durham
PA
UK news in pictures 29 June 2021 A boy kicks a soccer ball in front of the balconies and landings adorned with predominantly England flags at the Kirby housing estate in London
AP
UK news in pictures 28 June 2021 Emergency services attend a fire nearby the Elephant & Castle Rail Station in London
Getty
UK news in pictures 27 June 2021 People walk along Regent Street in central London during a #FreedomToDance march organised by Save Our Scene, in protest against the government’s perceived disregard for the live music industry throughout the coronavirus pandemic
PA
UK news in pictures 26 June 2021 A pair of marchers in a Trans Pride rally share a smile in Soho
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
UK news in pictures 25 June 2021 Tim Duckworth during the Long Jump in the decathlon during day one of the Muller British Athletics Championships at Manchester Regional Arena
PA
UK news in pictures 24 June 2021 A member of staff poses with the work 'The Death of Cash' by XCopy at the 'CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art' auction at Bonhams auction house in London
EPA
UK news in pictures 23 June 2021 Bank of England Chief Cashier Sarah John displays the new 50-pound banknote at Daunt Books in London
Bank of England via Reuters
UK news in pictures 22 June 2021 Actor Isaac Hampstead Wright sits on the newly unveiled Game of Throne's "Iron Throne" statue, in Leicester Square, in London, Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The statue is the tenth to join the trail and commemorates 10 years since the TV show first aired, as well as in anticipation for HBO's release of House of the Dragon set to be released in 2022
AP
UK news in pictures 21 June 2021 Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon receives her second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 20 June 2021 Joyce Paton, from Peterhead, on one of the remaining snow patches on Meall a’Bhuiridh in Glencoe during the Midsummer Ski. The event, organised by the Glencoe Mountain Resort, is held every year on the weekend closest to the Summer Solstice
PA
UK news in pictures 19 June 2021 England appeal LBW during day four of their Women’s International Test match against India at the Bristol County Ground
PA
UK news in pictures 18 June 2021 Scotland fans let off flares in Leicester Square after Scotland's Euro 2020 match against England ended in a 0-0 draw
Getty
UK news in pictures 17 June 2021 Members of the Tootsie Rollers jazz band pose on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 16 June 2021 A woman and child examine life-size sculptures of a herd of Asian elephants set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planets biodiversity, in Green Park, central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 15 June 2021 Hydrotherapists with Dixie, a seven-year-old Dachshund who is being treated for back problems common with the breed, in the hydrotherapy pool during a facility at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home's in Battersea, London, to view their new hydrotherapy centre
PA
UK news in pictures 14 June 2021 Scotland's David Marshall in the net after Czech Republic's Patrik Schick scored their second goal at Hampden Park
Reuters
UK news in pictures 13 June 2021 Raheem Sterling celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring England’s first goal of the Euro 2021 tournament in a match against Croatia at Wembley
Reuters
UK news in pictures 12 June 2021 Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall
EPA
UK news in pictures 11 June 2021 Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool
PA
UK news in pictures 10 June 2021 A woman walks her dogs as the incoming tide begins to wash away the heads of G7 leaders drawn in the sand by activists on the beach at Newquay, Cornwall
AP
UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend
Tom Maddick / SWNS
UK news in pictures 8 June 2021
REUTERS
UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill
PA
UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset
Nick Lucas/SWNS
UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire
PA
UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London
PA
UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain
Reuters
UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021
AP
UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach
Reuters
UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach
AP
UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased
PA
UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London
REUTERS
UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London
PA
UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth
Reuters
UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, ￡5m project to conserve York Minster’s South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window
PA
UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual month’s rainfall already
PA
UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May
Getty
UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium
Getty
UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England
PA
UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit
Getty Images
UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
PA
UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England
PA
UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another
PA
UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London
AFP via Getty
TUC deputy secretary Paul Nowak said it was “not acceptable for the government to outsource its health and safety responsibilities to individuals and to employers”.
And Unison assistant general secretary Jon Richards warned of a “confusing free-for-all, with ministers absolving themselves of any responsibility for public health” if face-coverings and other protective measures such as perspex sheeting are ditched prematurely in the workplace.
Mr Johnson said that regulations requiring masks and social distancing will be replaced by guidance on when individuals may wish to take protective measures, such as in crowded spaces such as Tube trains.
The one metre-plus distancing rule will be retained in ports and airports where people are arriving from abroad, as well as for people self-isolating after a positive test.
The NHS Test and Trace system will continue to operate and people will still be required to self-isolate if they test positive for coronavirus or are asked to do so by Test and Trace.
But Mr Johnson signalled that he wants to give exemptions from self-isolation requirements to double-jabbed individuals identified as contacts of coronavirus patients.
And transport secretary Grant Shapps will announce later this week whether they will also be allowed to return from “amber list” countries - including most popular European holiday resorts - without quarantine.
An announcement is also expected by education secretary on Tuesday Gavin Williamson on the removal of group bubbling in schools.
Mr Johnson said the government was able to go ahead with wholesale lifting of Covid restrictions because of the success of the vaccine programme.
Despite a 53 per cent rise in positive cases last week, with the daily total regularly topping 25,000, hospitalisations and deaths from coronavirus have risen more slowly, he said.
The latest figures showed 128 deaths over seven days, up 5 per cent on the previous week, while 1,953 patients were taken into hospital over the same period.
Prof Richard Tedder, senior research investigator in medical virology at Imperial College London, warned: “There has to be, whatever the financial costs, a recognition that we are on a very difficult balancing act, even with the extensive and laudable rollout of vaccines to people in this country.
“Using these vaccines in the present way to ‘free up our behaviour’ comes with the very real risk of facilitating the escape of variants which will be even more resistant to vaccines and potentially more infectious. Failing to recognise this is playing with fire.
“The repeated mantra ‘look at the infection rate, and the low disease rate’ is truly dangerous.”
But sociology professor Robert Dingwall of Nottingham Trent University said that making mask-wearing voluntary was “a positive step”.
“The benefits of masks have always been uncertain because the quality of the evidence in both directions is so weak,” said Prof Dingwall. “Any benefit has probably been quite small - or it would have been obvious even from weak studies - and needs to be offset by the psychological impact on population fear and anxiety, on children’s learning and interactions with adults, on people with communication issues and on the substantial number of adults who cannot wear masks because of underlying health conditions or other disorders, including previous trauma from assaults or abuse.”
Unite national officer for passenger transport Bobby Morton said: “To end the requirement to wear masks on public transport would be an act of gross negligence by the government.
“Rates of infection are continuing to increase and not only does mask-wearing reduce transmissions it helps provide reassurance to drivers and to passengers who are nervous about using public transport.
“Until rates of Covid-19 are fully under control throughout the whole of the UK, the rules on mask-wearing on public transport should remain in place.”