Oh well dm reports that Boris wants to get sd down to 1 metre
That’s good news
It's in the Times too Dowser. (Incidentally I never thought I would be favouring the Times over the Guardian. Things are properly fucked up. I might use my mum's login details 
)There is obviously the slightly dementory other side of the story from the scientists who think everything is too soon etc, but I guess that is balanced reporting. Here's the text:
"Boris Johnson has ordered ministers to lift the lockdown quickly to avoid the possible loss of three million jobs.
In a significant shift in the government’s approach to Covid-19, the prime minister signed off new measures to open up the economy at a meeting with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, on Friday night.
Johnson stepped in after a crunch meeting on Tuesday where he was warned by Alok Sharma, the business secretary, that failure to reopen the hospitality sector in time for the summer could cost up to 3.5 million jobs. Johnson replied: “Christ!”
This morning Matt Hancock, the health secretary, defended the decision to ease restrictions despite scientists warning that the R rate has risen.
John Edmunds, a professor of epidemiology and member of Sage, said that while the R rate was still below one overall, it was “creeping close to one in some places.” He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that he would like “to see the cases come down lower than they are” before the lockdown measures are relaxed.
But Mr Hancock told Sky’s Sophy Ridge: “We are winning the battle against this disease and that allows us to release some of the restrictions.”
Under plans for the easing of lockdown rules to be unveiled this week:
● Planning controls will be relaxed to enable pubs, cafés and restaurants to use outside areas
● Restrictions on weddings and funerals will go, enabling up to 10 people to attend indoors from early July
● In a potentially historic change, Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, is also writing legislation to permit outdoor weddings, currently limited to Jews and Quakers
● Places of worship will reopen on June 15 for private prayer, the same day as non-essential shops
● Possible measures to allow hairdressers to reopen before July 4
● Johnson has told Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, to secure “travel corridor” deals with holiday hotspots by June 28
● Shapps is also working on new rules to allow driving instructors back to work.
Mr Hancock said that while the government would be “cautious” in its approach, “Sage’s overall view is that R is between 0.7 and 0.9 and that it is below one in each region of the country.”
The coronavirus alert level, which at four indicates that transmission of the virus is high, is “clearly moving from four to three and the reason for that is because we can see that the number of new infections is coming down,” the health secretary said.
The fears of what one insider called “Jobocalypse Now” have led the prime minister to task a small group of ministers — dubbed the “Save Summer Six” — to draw up measures to return Britain to something like normal life by July.
Non-essential shops are scheduled to reopen on June 15
Non-essential shops are scheduled to reopen on June 15
AMER GHAZZAL
The move is a high-risk gamble, since scientists are warning that the R rate at which the coronavirus is spread is close to the danger level of one, and above it in northwest England and the southwest.
Johnson also wants the government to cut social distancing from two metres to one, if scientific evidence can be found to justify the move. The plan is seen by the six ministers — Sunak, Sharma, Michael Gove, Jenrick, Shapps and Oliver Dowden — as the key to opening up businesses, schools and public transport. It is also backed by Gavin Williamson, the education secretary.
This weekend, Sharma is due to talk to his Dutch and Danish counterparts about how they shifted to one metre, the minimum distance recommended by the World Health Organisation.
One cabinet minister described the changes to lockdown as “long overdue” and said: “It’s right that the emphasis has shifted to the economic side and a return to normal life.”
Downing Street will stress that changes will be in line with scientific advice, and it will leave open the prospect of reimposing some measures in areas where the virus is accelerating.
But a senior source confirmed: “Boris wants us back to normal, or as near to it as possible before the summer.”
Johnson and Sunak are working up plans for an economic stimulus package, due to be unveiled in a speech from the PM later this month and in a formal statement by the chancellor on July 9.
Proposals include lifting restrictions on Sunday trading, a “cash for clunkers” car scrappage scheme, a bank to take on the debts of companies that default on bounce-back loans, a national insurance holiday for employers and a temporary VAT cut.
Jenrick and Johnson’s senior aide, Dominic Cummings, have set up a panel of experts to advise on radical reforms to planning laws that will hand control of decisions from local councils to development corporations owned by the government.
The hospitality industry yesterday voiced support for a halving of the required social distance. The chief executive of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, said: “At two metres you are receiving 30% of your normal revenues; at one metre it gets up to 70% — so it is the difference between success and failure for many of those businesses.”
But there is growing disquiet that ministers are moving without the support of scientists and medical experts. Sir Jeremy Farrar, of the Sage committee of government advisers, warned yesterday that if lockdown lifts too fast there is a danger of a “rebound” of infections. He warned last week: “Covid-19 is spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England.”
NHS chiefs are turning on the government, saying it is too early to ease restrictions without a comprehensive plan in place to cope with a possible second wave of infections. Chris Hopson, head of NHS Providers, accused ministers of “cheap political rhetoric”, according to The Observer today.
Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “I think the criticism that we can’t see a strategy is a legitimate criticism.”
This morning Professor Edmunds told teh BBC: “I wish we had gone into lockdown earlier. That has cost a lot of lives.” He said that Sage had been operating with little data and poor “situational awareness” in early March that made it difficult to make that recommendation.
However when asked whether he thought the lockdown should have come into force earlier, Mr Hancock said: “No. I think we took the right decisions at the right time. There’s a broad range on Sage of scientific opinion and we were guided by the science.”
"