Boris Johnson: 'We want this lockdown to be the last'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants progress to be 'cautious but irreversible'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a coronavirus pandemic media briefing at Downing Street, London. PA

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped to draw up plans to lift national pandemic restrictions on socialising, shopping and travelling to work, including possible target dates.

“We want this lockdown to be the last,” Mr Johnson said on Monday. “We want progress to be cautious but irreversible.”

His priority will be to try to reopen schools from March 8, but no decision has yet been made on whether all age groups will return to classrooms at the same time.

Mr Johnson said he would unveil the earliest dates for removing restrictions from other sectors “if we possibly can".

Six weeks into a third national lockdown, his government is celebrating its success at starting one of the fastest vaccination programmes in the world and looking to how to revive an economy battered by deep recession.

The government has provided vaccines to the 15 million most vulnerable people and their carers, and has started offering shots to younger age groups, in a crucial milestone for emerging from the pandemic.

Members of Mr Johnson’s Conservative Party are pushing him to reopen faster and allow pubs and restaurants to reopen by early April.

But he said he would stay cautious about lifting lockdown too soon.