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England to follow Scotland in allowing different households to meet in gardens as Prime Minister claims the five coronavirus tests are being met


By Scott Maclennan

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Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson

England will join Scotland in allowing different households to meet outside in private gardens after Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed the UK government’s five tests are largely being met.

From Monday, he said, people in England will be able to meet those from different households in groups of up to six outdoors and in private gardens. Retail will get a boost, with garden centres and car showrooms also reopening.

Also from the start of next week, early years education will restart for “more children” in England, with the reopening of nurseries and other early years settings and classes for the youngest primary school pupils and those in year six.

For the first time at a Downing Street briefing Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that the measures he was announcing applied only to England not to the UK as a whole.

He said: “Although all parts of the UK are moving in the same direction it is important to note that health is devolved and different parts of the UK are quite properly moving at different speeds.

“This package has been carefully designed to ease the burdens of the lockdown while expecting to keep that R-number below one – I cannot and will not throw away all the gains we have made together.

“It's thanks to the caution so far that all five tests are being met. It is not my achievement nor the government's achievement, it is your achievement. The result is we can move forward with adjusting the lockdown in England on Monday."

He added a note of caution, saying: "I have to warn you in all frankness as we go forward that there will be further local outbreaks, so we will monitor what is going on very carefully, put on the brakes as required and, where necessary, we will reimpose measures."

Related article: Scotland's coronavirus lockdown eased for the first time


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