PAA trade union has slammed a train company after it promised employees a bonus in what was actually a cybersecurity test.
A train company has come under fire for emailling 2,500 staff to say they were in line for a bonus – only to reveal later it was actually a cybersecurity test.
West Midlands Trains (WMT) told staff they would receive a financial reward thanks to their “hard work” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Recipients were invited to click on a link for “information of your one-off payment”.
But the company sent a further email to those who opened the link, explaining that “this was a test designed by our IT team”.
The original message was designed to “closely mimic the tactics that, sadly, are being used on a daily basis by expert criminal organisations to try to gain access to company data”, the follow-up message stated.
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) trade union claimed the promise of a bonus was sent to 2,500 members of staff, and condemned the the move as a “cynical and shocking stunt”.
Manuel Cortes, the union’s general secretary, said: “This was a cynical and shocking stunt by West Midlands Trains, designed to trick employees who have been on the front line throughout this terrible pandemic, ensuring essential workers were able to travel.
“The company must now account for their totally crass and reprehensible behaviour.
“They could and should have used any other pretext to test their internet security.
“It’s almost beyond belief that they chose to falsely offer a bonus to workers who have done so much in the fight against this virus.
“Our members have made real sacrifices these past 12 months and more.
“Some WMT staff have caught the disease at work, one has tragically died, and others have placed family members at great risk.
“We need to know who sanctioned this email and we need an apology.
“Moreover, having fraudulently held out the prospect of a payment to staff, WMT must now be as good as their word and stump up a bonus to each and every worker.
“In that way the company can begin to right a wrong which has needlessly caused so much hurt.”
A spokesman for WMT, the parent company of West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway, said: “We take cybersecurity very seriously, providing regular training on the subject and we run exercises to test our resilience.
“Fraud cost the transport industry billions of pounds every year.
“This important test was deliberately designed with the sort of language used by real cyber criminals but without the damaging consequences.”
A minke whale stranded along the River Thames is to be put down after a two-day struggle to save the animal.
Hundreds of people gathered at Richmond Lock and Weir on Sunday after the small animal, thought to be between 10ft (3m) and 13ft (4m) long, became stuck on the lock’s boat rollers.
Videos showed it being hosed down while a vet performed a check-up at the river’s edge, before the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) arrived at the scene to the cheers of onlookers at about 9pm.
The whale was found to be in poor health and was put on pontoons to make it more comfortable on Sunday night as it was decided then that it should be put to sleep. But it managed to get free and back into the river.
On Monday, crowds gathered at Teddington Lock in south-west London on Monday to catch a glimpse of the animal as it became trapped once more.
But the whale is now due to be put to sleep as it would not survive on its own in the sea, Julia Cable, national co-ordinator at the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service, said.
“The vets are here from London Zoo. They will give the whale a large anaesthetic dose which will put it to sleep,” Cable said.
“The whale shouldn’t feel anything.”
She added: “It’s always sad, but we now know that putting it back out into the open sea would have been sending it to starve out there.”
Yui Mok – PA Images via Getty ImagesMembers of the RNLI attempt to assist a Minke whale at Teddington Lock.
Cable said the whale was either still “maternally dependent” or recently weaned, based on its size.
“It will be socially dependent, so to be on its own something has happened.
“It has been separated from either its mother or a group,” she added.
“It’s in a nutritionally poor state, it’s also got injuries from stranding.
“We know it was stranded for five or seven hours yesterday, so all the time that happens the organs can get damaged as well.”
Cable said whales tend to appear in the Thames every year, although live strandings were rare.
She said: “We started off with beluga, then there was a humpback and then there was another minke, then a fin whale turned up.
“But this is the first in recent years of a live stranding.
“It’s not common and hopefully we won’t see it again for a while.”
Yui Mok – PA Images via Getty Images
Dan Jarvis, welfare development and field support officer at the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service, said rescuers were working in conjunction with the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) which carries out post-mortem examinations.
He said they are likely to need help from the Port of London Authority to make arrangements for the removal of the whale.
Jarvis said it would be a long journey for the stranded whale to make it back to the open sea, around 30 miles, and logistically a big task.
He said the whale was put on pontoons to make it more comfortable on Sunday night as it was decided then that it should be put to sleep.
“It actually managed to get free of the pontoons unfortunately and back into the river,” he said.
Reflecting on the likely conclusion, Jarvis said: “This is likely the case with stranded cetaceans.
“It’s for a very good reason they’ve come ashore.
“Sometimes it is by accident, they do get stranded, but usually sadly it is the case that they’re already seriously ill or badly injured.
“And there’s not a great deal we can do in that situation.”
The whale was spotted near Teddington Lock just after 10.20am on Monday, heading downstream towards Chiswick and back towards Richmond Lock and Weir.
Pictures showed passers-by and photographers lining the river on Monday afternoon, with the whale clearly visible in the water.
Minke whales are the smallest of the great whales, growing to about 33ft (10m).
They can usually be found throughout the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Their range extends from the ice edge in the Arctic during the summer to near the equator during winter.
BBC News was royally mistaken as it attempted to tell viewers about how a small whale became stranded along the River Thames.
On Monday, concern was growing for the Minke whale – which is between 10ft (3m) and 13ft (4m) long – that was trapped at Teddington Lock in south west London.
On the corporation’s 24-hour-rolling news channel, newsreader Martine Croxhall attempted to keep viewers up to date.
She said: “The search continues to locate an injured whale in the River Thames after it escaped a first rescue attempt.”
However, the image shown on screen was the Queen as a teenager in a swimsuit with the caption: “Queen’s swimming memories.”
The journalist caught the mistake and quickly tried to acknowledge the error.
She said: “That was the Queen with her life-saving badge on her swimsuit, but I didn’t have time to tell you. Don’t know why.”
Moving on to the sport, reporter Chetan Pathak noted: “Nicely done, Martine.”
GLYN KIRK via Getty ImagesA juvenile Minke whale swims under a bridge at Teddington in south-west London.
The story involving the Queen was the monarch recollecting becoming the first young person in the Commonwealth to receive a junior lifesaving award from the Royal Life Saving Society.
As a 14-year-old the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, earned her junior respiration award in February 1941, after completing training at a gentlemen’s club in central London, where she had swimming lessons with her sister Princess Margaret.
On Friday, the government released its eagerly-anticipated list of destinations people in England can visit from May 17 without self-isolating on their return.
The announcement was met with disappointment from the travel industry and sun worshippers, with Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel the only popular summer short-haul destinations on the “green list” for travel. Some of the destinations named – notably Australia, New Zealand and Singapore – aren’t letting tourists in.
But for those who are desperate to get away to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension Island or Tristan da Cunha – “I’m sure the Falklands is lovely,” transport secretary Grant Shapps said – a form of Covid-free certification is likely to be needed.
Vaccine passports?
On Friday, the Department for Transport also announced that from May 17, people who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be able to demonstrate their status on the NHS app.
The app is connected to GP services and linked to personal health data. It can be used for repeat prescriptions, to message doctors and book appointments. It is separate from the NHS Covid-19 app, which is used for contact-tracing.
Those without access to the app can, from May 17, request a letter from the NHS that proves their vaccination status by calling 119.
The government says it is working with the devolved administrations to ensure this facility is available to everyone across the UK.
Will other countries accept it?
Countries around the world are looking at a host of options that will serve as proof of Covid-19 vaccinations to allow travel, though airports, border agencies and airlines are worried there will be no clear global standard that will be accepted at all borders.
Vaccine passports could range from a digital certificate with a scannable QR code in the European Union to a humble piece of paper in some other countries.
Besides concerns over issuance, forgery and the repeated failure of government-backed technology projects, it is still unclear how such documents would be received by notoriously zealous border guards across the world.
What does the UK government say?
The DfTs’s announcement makes clear certification will be useful to enter some countries on the “green list”.
For example, foreign nationals are not be permitted to enter Israel – but it has announced that borders will re-open from May 23 to tourists with vaccine certificates.
Will the NHS app be ready?
Earlier this week, Downing Street confirmed the app may not be ready for when curbs on international travel are lifted.
Number 10 said government was working on the tech – which can prove whether someone has “vaccine passport” status – “at pace”, but admitted it may not be ready in time for May 17.
What are other countries doing?
Airlines and airports have said any vaccine passport will need to be digital, to avoid delays during customs clearance or the boarding of flights caused by checks of paperwork.
The global airline industry body IATA is launching a digital travel pass for Covid-19 test results and vaccine certificates, while the European Union is launching a bloc-wide system.
SAMEER AL-DOUMY via Getty ImagesFrench fishing boats protest in front of the port of St Helier off the island of Jersey.
The UK government has said Navy ships patrolling Jersey amid a stand-off over fishing rights in the Channel island’s waters are to return home.
Patrol boats HMS Severn and HMS Tamar had been deployed less than 24 hours ago following warnings French fishing boats could mount a blockade to protest against the new licences they have been required to obtain from the Jersey government.
Early on Thursday, around 60 French fishing boats gathered off the island’s main port St Helier. At the height of the tensions, a Jersey fishing boat was rammed by a French trawler – with footage shared widely on social media.
After the protestors returned, a UK government spokesman said the Royal Navy vessels would now also prepare to return to port.
“We are pleased that French fishing boats have now left the vicinity of Jersey,” the spokesman said.
“Given the situation is resolved for now, the Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessels will prepare to return to port in the UK. We remain on standby to provide any further assistance Jersey requests.
“The Trade and Cooperation Agreement brought in changes to fishing arrangements between the UK and the EU.
“Jersey authorities have a right to regulate fisheries in their waters under this agreement and we support them in exercising those rights.
“We will work with Jersey to support the discussions under way with the European Commission.”
The EU had accused Jersey of breaching the terms of the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal.
The European Commission complained the authorities were imposing “additional conditions” on French fishing boats operating there, in breach of the terms of the agreement hammered out on Christmas Eve.
But in a call with Jersey’s chief minister John Le Fondre, Boris Johnson again voiced his “unequivocal support” for the actions taken by the island’s government.
Jersey, the biggest of the Channel Islands, is a British Crown Dependency and is defended and internationally represented by the UK government.
It lies just 14 miles from the French coast and 85 miles south of the English coast.
As HuffPost UK reported earlier, the stand-off prompted some over the top reactions on social media, with some perhaps semi-seriously suggesting it represented the start of a “war” between the UK and France.
To be clear, the UK and France are both Nato members, and war between the two would be incredibly unlikely.
As the issue had been brewing for some time, questions have been raised over armed ships being sent by the government on the eve of crucial elections.
Former US president Donald Trump’s most recent attempt to get a platform has been thwarted.
On the heels of the launch of his new webpage, “From the Desk of Donald J Trump”, on Wednesday, his team created the handle @DJTDesk on Twitter.
By Wednesday night, the account had been suspended.
“As stated in our ban evasion policy, we’ll take enforcement action on accounts whose apparent intent is to replace or promote content affiliated with a suspended account,” a spokesperson for Twitter said in a statement.
Trump’s “From the Desk” page is essentially a blog with a timeline format that resembles both Twitter and Facebook’s platforms. In the site’s brief life thus far, Trump has made a series of scattered, combative posts attacking Republicans including Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell. He also lambasted Twitter, Facebook and Google by name.
“What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country,” Trump wrote in a post on Wednesday. “Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process.”
Both Facebook and Twitter banned Trump from their platforms in the wake of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, which left several people dead.
“In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action,” the company wrote. “Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergslammed the insurrection as a demonstration by Trump to “use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden”.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post at the time. “Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
As Facebook’s ban was “indefinite” and not permanent, Facebook’s quasi-independent advisory board said this week that it would be giving the company a six-month window to further review Trump’s suspension, and to “determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform”.
HuffPost has reached out to Twitter for further comment.
They racked up more than $140,000 in charges in the first month following new president Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, according to watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which analysed Secret Service spending records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Agents protecting Trump’s progeny spent $52,296.75 on travel and $88,678.39 on hotel costs during the 30-day period, including on trips to Salt Lake City, Miami and New York, the group said Wednesday.
It works out to around $4,699 per day.
And the total costs to taxpayers could be even higher, because the Secret Service “did not provide records of spending at Trump businesses, which is the most controversial aspect of the extended protection”, CREW added.
Remember how we were investigating how much Trump’s children’s extended Secret Service protection would cost taxpayers? We got an answer: over $140K in just 30 days after Trump left office, and there’s likely more we don’t know about. https://t.co/WFKuVg16kw
Only the ex-president, former first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron, 15, are entitled to automatic protection.
Trump, however, extended the perk to his aforementioned kids (plus youngest daughter Tiffany Trump) and their partners in the final days of his administration.
“While it may be tempting to put the story of the Trump family’s profiteering in the past, we cannot until they have actually stopped directing taxpayer money into their own bank accounts,” said the group, which has long exposed instances of taxpayer money being funneled to Trump properties. “Thanks to Trump’s unusual extension of their protection, they’ve got a few more months to continue the grift.”
PA/YouTube/GettyLondon mayoral election candidates (clockwise from top left) Count Binface, Laurence Fox, Brian Rose and Niko Omilana.
Britain has a rich recent history of eccentric candidates running for office despite having little chance of success, and every chance of losing their deposit.
The English musician Screaming Lord Sutch achieved fame in the 1980s after founding the Official Monster Raving Loony party. In total, he stood for parliament 39 times and was trounced 39 times. But no television coverage of election night was complete without at least one lingering shot of Sutch in his trademark top hat and leopardskin jacket.
Sutch was perhaps a forerunner of what now seems a staple of UK elections, and the ballot for Thursday’s London mayoral election is chock-full of candidates you might charitable describe as outside bets.
Some 20 people are standing and the final Savanta ComRes poll on Wednesday shows that Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan has a commanding 41% of first preference votes, holding a double-digit lead over Conservative challenger, Shaun Bailey.
Final London Mayoral Poll
Sadiq Khan 41% (-) Shaun Bailey 29 (+1) Luisa Porritt 8 (-) Sian Berry 5 (-1) Others 17 (-)
After transfers: Sadiq Khan 60 (-1) Shaun Bailey 40 (+1)
So with the contest looking like a two-horse race – or one horse, if we’re completely honest – many political watchers have turned their eye to the battle lower down the ticket. So who are they, what are they offering, and who will get the wooden spoon?
Niko Omilana
Niko Omilana is the break-out election star that most professional politicos have never heard of – but millions of people have. The YouTuber is among several candidates who are running independently, and is set to be the most successful.
The Savanta ComRes poll has the 23-year-old is arguably punching above his weight on 6% of first preferences, which is up one point on the last survey. To put that in context, he’s just two percentage points behind the Liberal Democrat candidate and one ahead of the Green party’s nomination.
And yes. We have @NikoOmilana on 6% (+1). Not included in the above tweet because he deserves one all of his own…
Omilana has around 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube alone, and more social media followers than all the other candidates combined. The content on his channel is typically pranks, challenges, and elaborate stunts.
In a video clip uploaded to Twitter announcing his campaign, he introduced himself as the “founding father and supreme leader of the Niko Defence League”, known more commonly as NDL. The “NDL” was a knowing parody of the far-right English Defence League, and Omilana even trolled its figurehead Tommy Robinson by getting him to endorse his group.
If he manages to stay above 5% on election day, he keeps the £10,000 deposit required to stand.
What he would do if he won seems to be less of the point of the campaign than it being another opportunity to create “content”. The first policy listed in his manifesto is: “Boris Johnson will be forced to shush.”
Count Binface
Count Binface is the “interplanetary space warrior” who first came to prominence after standing against Boris Johnson in the 2019 general election.
In his manifesto, the count, played by comedian Jon Harvey, 41, plans to rename London Bridge as Phoebe Waller Bridge and have London join the EU.
Another pledge is to ensure that no croissant is sold for more than £1 and that a hand dryer at an Uxbridge pub will be moved “to a more sensible position”.
“These are just obvious policies and it mystifies me that it takes a space warrior to point them out,” he reflects.
The count said he would like to be endorsed for mayor by some illustrious names: “Top of my list at the moment are probably Ian McShane, Barack Obama, Emily Maitlis and Chris Rea.”
He is one of nine candidates polling at 1% in London.
Brian Rose
On the surface, Brian Rose is a fairly routine candidate – a businessman who wears expensive suits claiming that politics can be transformed by applying the principles of business and old-fashioned common sense.
But the American, who has lived in London for the past 21 years, raised eyebrows when two clips emerged of the 49-year-old drinking his own urine (one was posted on his Instagram in 2018).
“The whole team here thinks I’m crazy and thinks it’s kind of gross,” Rose said, before adding that he was drinking his urine because “it’s medicinal”.
The poll suggests 1% of Londoners like what they hear.
Laurence Fox
There has been blanket coverage of the one-time Lewis actor turned anti-lockdown, anti-woke publicity hound, who is standing under the Reclaim Party banner and its ‘Free London’ pledges.
The mainstream media’s fascination – long interviews have run in The Telegraph, New Statesman, and Evening Standard in the last week – and a campaign said to have £5 million in the coffershas put him on 2% of the vote, edging ahead of Binface in the fierce battle everyone is talking about.
Other notables
Another YouTuber – Max Fosh, who has 419,000 subscribers – is running simply to “get more votes” than Fox (they both went to Harrow school) and admits he would be a terrible mayor. He trails Fox on 1%.
Former weather forecaster Piers Corbyn, the former Labour leader’s older brother, is a notorious anti-vaxxer, anti-lockdown protester and climate change sceptic. Also tied on 1%.
UKIP’s candidate, meanwhile, is called Peter Gammons. Another on the 1% berth.
Kim PillingPAA police cordon in place at Walker Avenue in Bolton where a 15-year-old boy was stabbed several times.
A 15-year-old boy has died after being stabbed several times in Bolton.
The teenager, named locally as Reece Tansey, knocked on the door of a nearby house to ask for help after he was attacked in Walker Avenue shortly before 4.45am on Tuesday.
Greater Manchester Police said he had suffered several stab wounds and was taken to hospital but died from his injuries.
The force said a murder inquiry has been launched and no arrests have yet been made.
A cordon is in place covering a large section of Walker Avenue in Great Lever, with a forensic tent in the front garden of one address.
The victim was a pupil at Harper Green School in Farnworth.
In a message to parents on its website, the school said: “The school community is shocked and saddened by this terrible news and our thoughts are with the student’s family and friends at this difficult time.
“For a life to be ended at such a young age is a total tragedy.
“We will ensure any students who need it receive support and advice through our pastoral system.
“Harper Green is a close-knit community, we will work together over the coming days and weeks in supporting all those affected.”
Several hundred well-wishers later gathered at nearby Harper Green playing fields in pouring rain and released balloons in Reece’s memory.
Appealing for information, detective superintendent Chris Bridge said: “This incident will understandably be a huge shock to the community and our thoughts are with the boy’s family at this awful time.
“These are very early stages of our investigation but we would like to reassure the public that we are doing all we can to piece together what happened and find those responsible.
“There will be an increased police presence in the area whilst we carry out a number of lines of inquiry and anyone concerned in the local neighbourhood can speak to our officers.
“I would urge anyone who may have information or witnessed anything in the area to come forward.
“Even the smallest information may be crucial to our investigation.”
Anyone with information can call police on 101 quoting incident 359 of 04/05/2021 or report online at gmp.police.uk; or to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Hopes have been raised that the UK could move a step closer to pre-pandemic normality if the one-metre plus rule for social distancing is relaxed next month.
The government has been targeting June 21 as the earliest date on which the vast majority of coronavirus restrictions can be lifted as part of its four-step “roadmap” out of lockdown.
With around 50 million doses of a vaccine in people’s arms, the UK’s successful inoculation programme appears to be influencing the government’s thinking on how far it can go with re-opening.
While post-weekend reporting of Covid cases tends to be lower than the average, official figures on Monday showed the UK has recorded just one death in the latest 24-hour period.
What could happen?
The Times reported social distancing rules will be lifted to allow pubs, restaurants and theatres to open to full capacity for the first time in more than a year.
One-way systems, screens and mask-wearing while moving around might remain for hospitality venues but customer numbers will no longer be limited, the newspaper said.
Audiences in theatres and cinemas will have to wear face coverings during performances, while there will be strict guidance on ventilation and staggered entry, The Times reported.
A government insider told The Times: “The evidence we’ve got so far from the pilots is very positive and the general background on data is hugely encouraging in terms of numbers, falling deaths and hospitalisations.
“The pilots have shown us that mitigations have worked sufficiently to allow us to remove social distancing at least in the settings that we really need to in order to get them in a viable position again.
“The kind of thing we’re looking at is keeping in place mask wearing, extra ventilation, staggered entry — all of that has been shown to have worked so far.”
What has the government said?
Responding to the report, Boris Johnson said there was a “good chance” the one-metre plus rule for social distancing can be ditched next month.
The final decision on whether the change can be brought in from June 21 will depend on the data, the prime minister added.
Johnson said he feels like the next stage of reopening on May 17 – which covers indoor hospitality, entertainment and possibly foreign travel – “is going to be good”.
Speaking during a campaign visit to Hartlepool, Johnson told reporters: “As things stand, and the way things are going, with the vaccine rollout going the way that it is – we have done 50 million jabs as I speak to you today, quarter of the adult population, one in four have had two jabs.
“You are seeing the results of that really starting to show up in the epidemiology.
“I think that we will be able to go ahead, feels like May 17 is going to be good.
“But it also looks to me as though June 21 we’ll be able to say social distancing as we currently have to do it, the one-metre plus, I think we have got a good chance of being able to dispense with the one-metre plus from June 21.
“That is still dependent on the data, we can’t say it categorically yet, we have got to look at the epidemiology as we progress, we have got to look at where we get to with the disease. But that’s what it feels like to me right now.”
WPA Pool via Getty ImagesBoris Johnson poses for a ‘selfie’ photograph as he meets members of the public while campaigning in Hartlepool.
A Cabinet Office spokesman pointed back to the wording of the road map out of lockdown, which states that the government “will complete a review of social distancing measures and other long-term measures that have been put in place to limit transmission”.
The review’s findings “will help inform decisions on the timing and circumstances under which rules on one-metre-plus, face masks and other measures may be lifted”.
What does the hospitality industry say?
One industry chief has said a return to unrestricted trading for hospitality from June 21 is “critical” and will mean firms can “come off life support”.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UKHospitality, said: “These reports are very welcome if true.
“However, we must wait to see the full detail of plans as any restrictions in venues will continue to impact revenue and business viability.
“A return to unrestricted trading on June 21 is critical and will mean hospitality businesses (can) come off life support and be viable for the first time in almost 16 months.
“We urge the government to confirm reopening dates and these plans at the earliest opportunity, which will boost confidence and allow companies to step up planning and bring staff back.”
A spokesman for the UK Cinema Association indicated that the organisation hopes face coverings will not be a continued requirement.
He said: “We strongly believe that our exemplary record on safety – with not a single case of Covid traced back to a UK venue – and our ability to manage the movement of cinema-goers in modern, highly ventilated indoor environments offer ample evidence that any relaxation from June 21 can be undertaken safely without the need for further ongoing restrictions, including any requirement for face coverings.”
Do scientists agree?
Last month, government scientific advisers said the public should be able to remove face masks over the summer as vaccines do the heavy lifting in controlling Covid-19 – but they cautioned that masks and possibly other measures may be needed next autumn and winter if cases surge.
But there is a fierce debate within the scientific community.
In an open letter, one group of scientists said last month “a good society cannot be created by obsessive focus on a single cause of ill-health” and that Covid-19 “no longer requires exceptional measures of control in everyday life”.
The 22 signatories – who include Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at University of Oxford and Professor Karol Sikora from the medicine school at the University of Buckingham – say mandatory face coverings, physical distancing and mass community testing should end no later than June 21.
The letter states: “It is more than time for citizens to take back control of their own lives.”
But others were less optimistic.
Professor Stephen Reicher, from the University of St Andrews and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours, which advises ministers, said calls from scientists and academics to end coronavirus restrictions are “wrong” and “remarkably insular”.
He said: “We have heard from these people before, arguing that Covid isn’t a risk and that restrictions should be lifted.
“They were wrong then and they are wrong now.”
Prof Reicher said the irony of saying “it’s all over” makes such measures less likely, makes increased infections more likely and therefore makes lockdown restrictions “a real possibility”.
What other measures have been relaxed?
And the last sign of progress being made, the government announced the limit on the number of mourners who can attend funerals is to be lifted in England.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the legal restriction of a maximum of 30 mourners will be removed as part of the next stage of lockdown easing, expected on May 17.
The capacity will be determined by how many people venues, such as places of worship or funeral homes, can safely accommodate while maintaining social distancing, the department added.
PAUL ELLIS via Getty ImagesFans watch Blossoms perform at a live music concert hosted by Festival Republic in Sefton Park in Liverpool.
Meanwhile, thousands of revellers without face coverings danced shoulder to shoulder to live music for the first time in more than a year at a pilot music festival.
Around 5,000 people packed into Sefton Park in Liverpool on Sunday for the outdoor gig which included performances from Blossoms, The Lathums and Liverpool singer-songwriter Zuzu.
Pictures and videos showed people packed together, arms in the air, dancing to the music at the event which has been hailed as a milestone towards getting live events running again.
Everyone had to produce negative coronavirus tests to enter the event but did not have to wear face coverings or follow social distancing rules.
It is hoped that test events like this will pave the way for festivals and venues across the country to reopen for mass gatherings again.
What about foreign holidays?
The ban on foreign holidays is expected to be lifted for people in England from May 17 as part of the next easing of coronavirus restrictions.
But Johnson cautioned that while there will be “some openings up” from that date, the approach must be “sensible” to avoid an “influx of disease” when international travel resumes.
Johnson’s cautious tone came as some MPs called for restrictions on foreign holidays to be maintained to protect the country from Covid-19 variants, and Labour leader Keir Starmer urged a “careful” approach.
Johnson told reporters during a campaign visit to Hartlepool: “We do want to do some opening up on May 17 but I don’t think that the people of this country want to see an influx of disease from anywhere else.
“I certainly don’t and we have got to be very, very tough, and we have got to be as cautious as we can, whilst we continue to open up.”
Asked if people should be planning foreign holidays, he told reporters: “We will be saying more as soon as we can.
“I think that there will be some openings up on the 17th, but we have got to be cautious and we have got to be sensible and we have got to make sure that we don’t see the virus coming back in.”
Starmer criticised the “chopping and changing” of the travel corridors list introduced last year and said such a situation should be avoided this holiday season.
