Lockdown won’t end early but July 19 is the ‘end of the line’, says Sajid Javid

Sajid Javid has said there will be no early lifting of coronavirus restrictions in the UK, but July 19 will be the ‘end of the line’.

In a speech to the House of Commons today after taking over as Health Secretary, he said we had to be realistic that we would not eliminate Covid-19 and would have to find a way to live with it.

But he was optimistic that that the lockdown would be lifted as planned next month, meaning limits on social contacts would end.

The milestone would be ‘the start of an exciting new journey’ for the country, he said.

Former chancellor Mr Javid said he ‘had a lot of work to do’ after he was appointed the top job at short notice on Saturday following the dramatic resignation of Matt Hancock.

Already signalling a tone change in lockdown messaging, Mr Javid earlier said his ‘immediate priority’ was getting the country back to normal as ‘quickly as possible’.

He insisted that when restrictions do finally lift, they will be ‘irreversible’ with ‘no going back’.

Mr Hancock was widely seen as a key proponent of strict Covid measures and was in favour of the four-week delay to the initial June 21 ‘freedom day’.

Meanwhile, Mr Javid has previously voiced his concerns over long lockdowns and how they would impact the economy.

The final stage of easing restrictions is due to come into effect on July 19 but the midpoint review of July 5 is exactly one week away.

Boris Johnson earlier said he was confident that July 19 would be the ‘terminus date’ for when the nation can ‘go back to life as it were before Covid’ as much as possible.

Following talks with his new health secretary, the PM said it is ‘sensible’ to stick to the planned date and dismissed lifting restrictions any earlier, highlighting a recent ‘quite big’ increase in cases.

The PM told broadcasters on Monday: ‘So what I’m saying to people, is it’s just another few more weeks to get those jabs in and then I think there is really an increasingly good chance – a very good chance indeed – that July 19 will be the terminus date.’

But Downing Street was quick to insist that any decisions made on lifting restrictions would be driven by ‘data not dates’.

Mr Johnson also defended the slow resignation of his former health secretary as ‘the right pace to proceed in a pandemic’.

Mr Hancock was forced to resign after CCTV footage emerged of him breaking Covid regulations by kissing his aide Gina Coladangelo in the Department of Health.

The leaked video, which the Government are investigating, was recorded in May – directly contradicting the social distancing rules he urged the public to follow.

Tory and opposition MPs alike called for the PM to sack Mr Hancock when the images emerged in The Sun, but Downing Street said on Friday that Mr Johnson had accepted his apology and considered ‘the matter closed’.

Taking over his position over the weekend, Mr Javid praised Mr Hancock for working ‘incredibly hard’ during the pandemic.

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