Boris: I want a UK-wide approach to leaving the Covid-19 lockdown

BORIS Johnson yesterday insisted he still wants a UK-wide approach to exiting lockdown.

The Prime Minister said he is leading a UK approach, but with ‘different speeds’ in different nations.

He held talks with Nicola Sturgeon and the First Ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland as he unveiled further relaxation of lockdown measures in England.

Following the talks, a Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The PM made clear that as we begin to move to the next phase of tackling this virus, he remains determined to work closely with the devolved administrations. This continues to be a UK-wide approach, even though we may travel at slightly different speeds based on the scientific evidence.

‘He also stressed the importance of particularly close engagement on programmes that must be UK-wide to be most effective.

‘This includes contact tracing, where coordinated systems across the UK will be critical to the next phase of our efforts. They also discussed the important work of the UK Joint Biosecurity Centre in making the response across the country increasingly targeted. They all agreed that continued engagement is vital and that they will remain in close contact in the days and weeks ahead.’

Earlier, Miss Sturgeon said she would tell Mr Johnson he must make clear when measures apply only to England. She also said she would not raise her views on Dominic Cummings travelling during lockdown, as she doesn’t want to ‘waste time’ telling him what he already knows.

Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I will, as I have done before, ask the Prime Minister when he is talking about lockdown and the lifting of restrictions to make clear that he is talking about England alone.

‘My views on Dominic Cummings are clear but I don’t want to spend time talking about Dominic Cummings because I have got a job to do to make sure we continue to take the right decisions.’

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