the Prime Minister has outlined measures
to start a very gradual easing of the
lockdown in England while warning of the
danger of a second surge of the pandemic
in a televised address this evening
Boris Johnson said it was the right time
to update the government's message in
England from stay at home to stay alert
but the new message lacks clarity
according to labour and the stay at home
message is not being replaced in
Scotland Wales or in Northern Ireland
now the Prime Minister's conditional
plan as he called it urges anyone who
can't work from home to return to work
from tomorrow but to avoid public
transport if possible from Wednesday
people were be encouraged to exercise as
much as they want but playing sports can
only be done with members of the same
household from June schools in England
could see a partial reopening starting
at primary level in reception and years
1 and 6 there are no plans for a full
return of secondary schools before
September but pupils facing exams next
year might get some time with their
teachers before the summer from July at
the earliest parts of the hospitality
industry and other public places might
be reopened and there could be some kind
of quarantine for air travelers arriving
in the UK but we have no detail on that
yet
Prime Minister spoke on the day that the
latest official figures showed 31,000
855 deaths from coronavirus in the UK -
an increase of 269 from yesterday well
our first report is from our political
editor Laura Ginsburg so many of us
turned in restrictions on their freedom
here the Prime Minister introduced
measures not seen in a time of peace
after seven weeks of lockdown around the
country people watching again and living
rooms and homes where the Prime Minister
told us to stay thanks to you we've
protected our NHS and saved many
thousands of lives and so I know you
know that it would be madness now to
throw away that achievement by allowing
a second
we must stay alert we must continue to
control the virus and save lives
although lot don't help control the
disease it's crippled the economy so in
England if you can't work at home
ministers want you to go back to help
struggling businesses get going again we
can see it all around us in these
shuttered shops and abandoned businesses
and darkened pubs and restaurants and
there are millions of people who are
both fearful of this terrible disease
and at the same time also fifth of what
this long period of enforced inactivity
will do to their livelihoods and their
mental and physical well-being to their
futures and the futures of their
children so I want to provide tonight
for you the shape of a plan to address
both fears that means slowly in England
limits on exercise will be relaxed you
can sit in the park and play some sports
and a government official confirmed you
could meet one person from another
household as long as you stick to the 2
meter distance and if you can't work at
home you'll be actively encouraged to go
to work from June the ambition is to
reopen primary schools for reception
year 1 and year 6 but no full return for
secondaries before the summer there
could also be a phased reopening of
shops then in July the hope is for a
limited return of the hospitality
industry and opening other public spaces
but this is all dependent on how the
disease progresses and if it flares
restrictions might return no this is not
the time simply to end the lockdown this
week instead we're taking the first
careful steps to modify our measures if
there are outbreaks if there are
problems we will not hesitate to put on
the brakes
we've been through the initial peak but
it's coming down the mountain that is
often more dangerous we have a route and
we have a plan and everyone in
government has the all-consuming
pressure and
challenged to save lives restore
livelihoods and gradually restore the
freedoms that we need neighbor called
for an exit strategies several weeks ago
but the leader watching carefully was
disappointed with what he heard what the
country wanted tonight was clarity and
consensus and I afraid we've got neither
this statement raises as many questions
as dancers and we see the prospect of
England Scotland and Wales pulling in
different directions
it's a big gap here for the government
to make up the UK government's new
message stay alert is designed to cover
all sorts of different sectors and
advice as the situation evolves to help
save lives stay home but Scotland and
Wales in Northern Ireland are sticking
to the message stay at home the disease
is thought to be spreading faster there
Nicola Sturgeon obviously unimpressed
they have asked the UK government not to
deploy the rst
alert advertising campaign in Scotland
because the message in Scotland at this
stage is not stay at home if you can the
messages except for the essential
reasons you know about stay at home . if
i say to you my message now is still
there and you say to me but does that
mean i stay at home or not i can't give
you a straight answer we've been
following the rook family in
Wolverhampton coping with lockdown
tonight's message gave them some comfort
that questions - just before a lot of
time we were Jews - launcher and a
clothing business and we've
manufacturing now on the cards and that
certainly gives us something to think
about it
disappointingly for me and there was no
mention of family and when we when we
can see people from outside of the
household and I lost my dad recently and
I'm missing my mom and the children are
missing their nanny this emergency first
required a rapid response from the
Downing Street desk this unfolding phase
brings pressing questions of detail and
dilemmas not just about his decisions
but also all of era's Lawrenceburg BBC
News Westminster well as Laura said
they're at the end of the piece the
three-step plan announced by the Prime
Minister will affect the everyday lives
of tens of millions of people in England
and the plan has already triggered lots
of questions and
for more detail our north of England
correspondent Danny Savage has been to
Cheshire to speak to three households
there at 7 o'clock this evening the
nation sat down to watch what the Prime
Minister had to say and then digest what
it meant to their lives what changes
should they prepare for what problems
does it cause I can't see that in has
three daughters I can't see you're gonna
get on a bus or a train the oldest two
are not in school years earmarked to
return to class but the youngest could
be heading back in June I think we
obviously understand the importance of
education for the kids and the social
aspect but we don't know if it's safe to
have one going in and two not and how
the teachers are going to cope
particularly in reception up with the
air going back for us how do you tell
four and five-year-olds to be distant
from each other I think it might be
quite scared for four and five-year-olds
to be surrounded with masks on and to
have teachers that have masks on etc
over-the-road pitch and reg were hoping
for an indication of when they could see
their family again I hadn't seen the
Liverpool grandchildren since January I
haven't seen the reading children since
January but they think restrictions
should have been extended and are now
worried it was like well that's um
another three weeks
never mind the grandchildren let's let's
make it safe I mean obviously Reggie's
in a situation he doesn't want to get it
there
I mean I'm diabetic and I've had five
different concerts I don't think that
people in this country in England will
stay at home
they have stopped to go out now well
duck doesn't does that worry you it
worries me because it's more like I'm
more likely to get it before go out
there neighbor Matt works for a
logistics company sometimes at home
sometimes in the office the offices
we've also got set up so that anyone
that has to come into the office they
are at least two metres apart so I think
from that point of view if you've done
what you should have done for the past
3-4 weeks you will be okay but there's
one big concern what message do we give
to our staff tomorrow know you've got
come into work they can't because they
can't use anyone the kids can't go to
school they can't go to babysitter's
they can't go to grandparents so again
it's just confusion behind the front
doors of Britain people are now working
out what Boris Johnson's words mean to
them how will their lives work with the
new guidelines Danny Savage BBC news
Cheshire let's go live to Westminster
and talk to Laura our political editor
lots of questions Laura we heard them on
the reports they're about clarity now
where do you think the statement fits in
terms of the picture of the need for
clarity I think it's very difficult here
I mean first and foremost what this
statement does not mean is the end of
the UK wide lockdown far from it and
despite expectations that may have been
raised or what people perhaps we're
hoping for that is not the end of very
major restrictions and limits being
placed on all our lives and it was never
going to be what it is though in England
at least is the beginning of baby steps
of many months of gradual starts of life
returning to a different new kind of
normal but because the locks aren't
affected pretty much every aspect of our
life that means for every single one of
those aspect the government is going to
have to come up with an answer and a 13
minute speech from one of the desks in
Downing Street didn't provide perhaps
could never have provided every single
bit of specific information but I think
if you like that has tonight created
some very real and immediate questions
for people if they haven't heard from
their employer should they go to work
tomorrow
should people decide to behave
differently tomorrow should they go out
whereas previously they had been
deciding to stay behind closed doors now
it's important to say tomorrow the
government will publish a 50 page
document that should give detailed
answers in black and white to many of
these kinds of dilemmas but it feels a
bit as if after political pressure to
set out an exit strategy and an
understandable desire in government to
move towards the next phase it's a bit
like Boris Johnson has given us a rough
map of where we might go drawn in marker
with few of the finer details and
contours in place names there for us all
to see Laura many thanks again Laura
Coons Berg there with analysis at
Westminster