Shapps backs Christmas end to lockdown

TRANSPORT Secretary Grant Shapps has thrown his weight behind Boris Johnson’s vision of getting Britain back to normal by Christmas.

The Prime Minister raised eyebrows last week when he set out his hopes for securing a “significant return to normality” in time for the festive season.

His upbeat assessment contrasted with the pessimism of Professor John Edmunds of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), who said such normality was “a long way off”.

But Mr Shapps insisted it was “possible that we can get there”.

He said: “It’s giving people a road map really so we can give people some hope whilst planning for the worst as well.

“We want to give people some sense of direction because a lot of people are running businesses or rely on the Christmas period and need to know that if everything goes well that this is our intention.

“But you can’t get away from the fact that the virus is still, in many ways, a bit of an unknown.

“Of course it depends how millions of people respond and how good and alert we are in terms of all the things we know, like washing your hands and for the time being keeping that social distance of one metre-plus.”

Mr Johnson stoked hopes in last week’s Downing St briefing that more lockdown measures could be ditched, announcing relaxed home working guidance and paving the way for theatres and sports stadiums to reopen.

He said it was his “strong and sincere hope” that ministers would be able to review the remaining restrictions from November onwards, “possibly in time for Christmas”.

Meanwhile Mr Shapps is the first senior politician to declare he is taking an overseas summer holiday this year.

He told Radio 4 he and his wife Belinda had decided to take advantage of the relaxation of Foreign Office guidance on non-essential travel abroad.

He said: “My wife looked at all of these new changes that were made and has now booked a break for the first time for a couple of years.”

Mr Shapps’ decision contrasts with the pledges by Mr Johnson, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and senior MPS that they would be taking a “staycation”. ‘DIRECTION’: Grant Shapps