London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

UK PM unveils England's 'one-way road to freedom' out of lockdown

Boris Johnson unveiled plans to open shops and hairdressers by April 12, and lift almost all COVID restrictions by June 21, if conditions allow.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled plans to open shops and hairdressers by April 12, and lift almost all COVID restrictions in England by June 21, if conditions allow.

Johnson spoke to Parliament on Monday setting out his government's "one-way road to freedom", which he said was possible because of the country's success with its vaccination programme.

England will unlock in four stages, he announced, with stage one beginning on March 8, when schools and higher education settings can return to face-to-face teaching, "supported by twice weekly testing of secondary school and college pupils."

At this stage university students who require in person teaching will be able to return too.

The next stages will not come into effect until at least 5 weeks after the previous stage. This, he explained, was due to the fact it takes four weeks for the effects of any lifting of measures to be seen, and an extra week would be added so people had at least seven days' notice of incoming changes.

And decisions on beginning a new stage of lifting restrictions will be subject to four tests: the pace of the vaccine programme; evidence of the effectiveness of vaccines; ensuring infection rates don't risk a surge in hospitalisations; and that the picture isn't "fundamentally changed" by the emergence of new variants of coronavirus.

Bars, restaurants, gyms, schools, hair salons and all non-essential shops were closed in England on January 5 as part of the country's third lockdown to curb the spread of COVID infections.

Four steps on England's "one-way road to freedom"


Step one, on 8 March, will also see people allowed to meet one person from outside their household for outdoors recreation, while each care home resident will be able to name a visitor for regular visits.

On 29 March, when schools go on Easter holidays, the rule of six will return for meetings outdoors or in private gardens, and outdoor sports will be able to resume.

Step two is set to begin no earlier than April 12, with non-essential retail shops to reopen, along with indoors leisure such as gyms.

Pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen for outdoors service, and there will be no curfew or requirement for a substantial meal with alcoholic drinks.

Step three could be in place from 17 May, with most restrictions on meetings outdoor lifted, and people will be able to meet with the rule of six indoors.

Pubs and restaurants will be reopened indoors, along with cinemas, concert halls and theatres.

Sports stadiums will also reopen subject to capacity limits.

Step four will be no earlier than 21 June, aiming to remove all legal limits on social contact, weddings and other social events, and everything and up to nightclubs will be reopened.

Johnson insists this time he will follow "data, not dates" after his government was accused of reopening the country too quickly after the first lockdown in the spring.

But he is under pressure from some of his own MPs, who are pushing for a quicker end to lockdown to revive the economy.

Johnson says the government is taking a "cautious" approach and each stage will depend on the continuing success of the vaccine rollout.

The government declared on Sunday that every adult in the country would be offered their first jab by the end of July, at least a month earlier than its previous target.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have slightly different lockdowns in place, with some children returning to class in Scotland and Wales on Monday.

The Scottish government is due to set out its roadmap out of lockdown on Tuesday.

The UK has been recording on average 11,000 daily cases of COVID-19. The country has recorded a total of more than four million cases and over 120,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
×