Plus, when moving house means...moving your house
| Johnson defends 'cautious' reopening in England |
| |
| | | Boris Johnson has defended his plan to end lockdown in England, after it was criticised by some for being too cautious. Mr Johnson faced the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs on Monday night, with some saying the five-week gap between “stages” of reopening was too long, and too inflexible. But Mr Johnson said there would be “no backtracking”. Lockdown will start to end in England on 8 March, when schools reopen, and two people are allowed to meet outdoors. On 29 March, six people, or two households, will be able to meet outdoors – including in private gardens. Non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality are due to open on 12 April, with all restrictions due to end by 21 June. Mr Johnson has called it a “one-way road to freedom”. You can read our political editor Laura Kuenssberg’s analysis here (with an extract below) and our health correspondent Nick Triggle’s take here. Meanwhile in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon will reveal her plan to end lockdown later today. | |
| |
|
|
| PM's plan leads to surge in travel bookings |
| |
| |
| Under Mr Johnson’s plan, international travel will not return until 17 May at the earliest – but that hasn’t put people off booking. Tui reported their best day of bookings in over a month, with strong interest in Greece, Spain and Turkey for the summer. Thomas Cook said traffic to its website was up over 100% on Monday from 15:00 GMT onwards. EasyJet also reported a 337% surge in flight bookings and a 630% jump in holiday bookings. Mr Johnson said a global travel taskforce would put forward a report on how to return to international travel on 12 April. | |
| |
|
|
| Facebook to restore news in Australia |
| |
| |
| Facebook is to restore news content to users in Australia. The social media giant has blocked news to Australians since last Thursday, in response to a proposed law that would make it and Google pay news publishers for content. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said news pages would be restored "in the coming days", and the law would be "amended". The law is designed to set up a "fairer" negotiation process between the tech giants and news companies. | |
| |
|
|
| | | | | His calculation is that people, after all this time, will prefer certainty over haste. That's why the prime minister won't be persuaded to go faster by some of his own restless backbenches. That's why other parts of government - even those eager to pull back restrictions, worried about the costs of all this - concede to hurry would be wrong this time. And that's why Mr Johnson, right now at least, is playing the role of a leader for whom caution is number one. A mantle this long pandemic has lent him - and a political persona that would have been almost impossible to imagine last year. | |
|
|
| |
| | Laura Kuenssberg | BBC political editor | |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| | | | All the newspapers focus on the PM’s plan to end lockdown. The Daily Mail asks “What are we waiting for?” while the Sun calls it “the wait escape”. But the Times has a more optimistic take, with its headline declaring: “The end is in sight”. See all the front pages here. | |
| |
|
|
| | | Alex Salmond Former first minister allleges "malicious" plot |
| | | | | | Jeep Company urged to retire "Cherokee" name |
| | | | El Chapo Drug lord's wife arrested in US |
| |
| |
|
|
| If you watch one thing today |
| | | |
| |
|
|
| If you listen to one thing today |
| | | |
| |
|
|
| If you read one thing today |
| | | |
| |
|
|
| Need something different? |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Let us know what you think of this newsletter by emailing bbcnewsdaily@bbc.co.uk. If you’d like to recommend it to a friend, forward this email. New subscribers can sign up here. | |
| |
|