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School back and holiday hopes rising BORIS KEEPS HIS DISTANCE AS HE PLEDGES £1bn FUND
BORIS Johnson told people to “watch this space” as Britain last night took major steps towards a return to normality.
The Prime Minister made the pledge as the coronavirus threat level was reduced from four to three.
And it came as ministers also announced that all pupils will return to school in September, and foreign holidays are back on the cards.
The UK’S alert level has been lowered because transmission is no longer “high or rising exponentially”, and there is a “steady decrease” in cases.
It paves the way for the two-metre social distancing rule to be relaxed, with the Prime Minister revealing that he will make “further changes” to the regulations very soon. The Government also revealed it is planning to relax its travel quarantine rules in early July for some countries, meaning Brits could be able to go on foreign trips next month. Officials are talking to counterparts in Portugal, France, Italy, Greece and Spain to secure a number of so-called“travel corridors”.
At the daily Downing Street briefing yesterday Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced all children will be back in school full-time from September.
He said education was “vital”, and as a result “all children, in all year groups, will go back to school in September”.
A further 173 people have died with Covid-19, taking the UK toll to 42,461.
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BORIS Johnson visits a school after announcing a £1billion plan to help pupils catch up with lessons.
The PM made sure he stuck to social distancing rules.
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And the youngsters at Bovington Primary in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, gave the
ROBIN COTTLE
politician a tasty looking birthday cake as he turned 56 yesterday. ★
Mr Johnson said: “I want a world in which, as far as possible, provided we can make classrooms safe – and I think we can – I want every child, every pupil, every student, back in September. I’m sure we can get it done.”
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A £350million scheme will help the most disadvantaged pupils get extra help from tutors while heads get £650m to spend.