All rules on social distancing and mask-wearing are set to be torn up in England on 19 July, as Boris Johnson brushed aside appeals from city mayors and unions to keep safety restrictions on public transport, in shops and in workplaces.
In a press conference from Downing Street, the prime minister announced that following the end of step 4 of his roadmap out of lockdown, individuals will be asked to take personal responsibility for making their own decisions on whether to wear masks and keep their distance from one another.
Limits on attendance at mass events like concerts and sports matches will be scrapped, while requirements for table service in pubs and restaurants will go, businesses of all kinds – including nightclubs – will reopen, and people will be allowed to gather in groups of any size indoors or outside.
The requirement to work from home where possible will be lifted, and employers will be asked to consult with staff on the return to the workplace.
Mr Johnson confirmed that he intends the delayed step 4 of the roadmap – initially pencilled in for 21 June, but held back because of the surge in cases of the infectious Delta variant of Covid – to take place on 19 July. But he stressed that ministers will not take a final decision until assessing the latest data on 12 July against their four tests for safe reopening.
And he said that there would be no mandatory “Covid passports” to control entry into venues such as pubs and restaurants – though businesses can impose schemes of their own.
The interval between vaccine doses will be cut for under-40s from 12 to eight weeks, allowing everyone over 18 to receive two jabs by the middle of September.
One scientist warned warned the PM was “playing with fire” by introducing new freedoms which might allow vaccine-resistant variants of Covid to develop.
Daily infections are currently running at more than 25,000, and Mr Johnson admitted that positive cases may hit 50,000 a day by 19 July.
The Unite union branded the decision to end mandatory mask use on buses and trains “an act of gross negligence by the government” at a time when infection rates of Covid-19 continue to rise.
A YouGov poll found that 71 per cent believe face masks should remain mandatory on public transport and 66 per cent in shops for a further period after restrictions are lifted.
And London mayor Sadiq Khan and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham issued appeals for Mr Johnson to rethink the change.
Mr Burnham said: “I struggle to see how ministers can drop the requirement to wear masks on public transport without causing real problems for some people who are dependent on it. Those more vulnerable to infection or anxious about it will be put in a very unfair position.”
And after talks with Transport for London, Mr Khan said: “The simplest and safest option going forward would be for the government to retain the requirement for face coverings on public transport”.
While transport operators will be able to require mask use as a condition of travel, the prospect of confusion caused by differing rules on the complex network of publicly and privately-operated bus, train and tram services means it is thought unlikely that many will attempt to do so.
TUC deputy secretary Paul Nowak said it was “not acceptable for the government to outsource its health and safety responsibilities to individuals and to employers”.
And Unison assistant general secretary Jon Richards warned of a “confusing free-for-all, with ministers absolving themselves of any responsibility for public health” if face-coverings and other protective measures such as perspex sheeting are ditched prematurely in the workplace.
Mr Johnson said that regulations requiring masks and social distancing will be replaced by guidance on when individuals may wish to take protective measures, such as in crowded spaces such as Tube trains.
The one metre-plus distancing rule will be retained in ports and airports where people are arriving from abroad, as well as for people self-isolating after a positive test.
The NHS Test and Trace system will continue to operate and people will still be required to self-isolate if they test positive for coronavirus or are asked to do so by Test and Trace.
But Mr Johnson signalled that he wants to give exemptions from self-isolation requirements to double-jabbed individuals identified as contacts of coronavirus patients.
And transport secretary Grant Shapps will announce later this week whether they will also be allowed to return from “amber list” countries – including most popular European holiday resorts – without quarantine.
An announcement is also expected by education secretary on Tuesday Gavin Williamson on the removal of group bubbling in schools.
Mr Johnson said the government was able to go ahead with wholesale lifting of Covid restrictions because of the success of the vaccine programme.
Despite a 53 per cent rise in positive cases last week, with the daily total regularly topping 25,000, hospitalisations and deaths from coronavirus have risen more slowly, he said.
The latest figures showed 128 deaths over seven days, up 5 per cent on the previous week, while 1,953 patients were taken into hospital over the same period.
Prof Richard Tedder, senior research investigator in medical virology at Imperial College London, warned: “There has to be, whatever the financial costs, a recognition that we are on a very difficult balancing act, even with the extensive and laudable rollout of vaccines to people in this country.
“Using these vaccines in the present way to ‘free up our behaviour’ comes with the very real risk of facilitating the escape of variants which will be even more resistant to vaccines and potentially more infectious. Failing to recognise this is playing with fire.
“The repeated mantra ‘look at the infection rate, and the low disease rate’ is truly dangerous.”
But sociology professor Robert Dingwall of Nottingham Trent University said that making mask-wearing voluntary was “a positive step”.
“The benefits of masks have always been uncertain because the quality of the evidence in both directions is so weak,” said Prof Dingwall. “Any benefit has probably been quite small – or it would have been obvious even from weak studies – and needs to be offset by the psychological impact on population fear and anxiety, on children’s learning and interactions with adults, on people with communication issues and on the substantial number of adults who cannot wear masks because of underlying health conditions or other disorders, including previous trauma from assaults or abuse.”
Unite national officer for passenger transport Bobby Morton said: “To end the requirement to wear masks on public transport would be an act of gross negligence by the government.
“Rates of infection are continuing to increase and not only does mask-wearing reduce transmissions it helps provide reassurance to drivers and to passengers who are nervous about using public transport.
“Until rates of Covid-19 are fully under control throughout the whole of the UK, the rules on mask-wearing on public transport should remain in place.”
