Plan to end lockdown in England increasingly in doubt as government advisers urge delay

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Boris Johnson’s plans to ease England’s coronavirus restrictions completely on 21 June appear increasingly in doubt after a number of advisers to the government urged ministers to delay. “And I think that people are not saying we should abandon the June 21 date altogether, but just to delay it by a few weeks while we gather more intelligence and we can look at the trajectory in a clearer way.” Prof Gupta, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, which advises the government, added: “If you look at the costs and benefits of getting it wrong, I think it is heavily in favour of delay.” When Mr Johnson set the 21 June date earlier this year he did not take into account the Indian variant, said Prof Gupta. While the overall number of cases remains relatively low, the UK is seeing signs of a third wave of infections, he warned, adding: “All waves start with low numbers of cases that grumble in the background and then become explosive.” The latest wave could take longer to emerge because of the success of the vaccination programme, he said, which could create a “false sense of security for some time. “So that we don't get to a position where we have to really go backwards in terms of the restrictions that we’re all having to endure.” Fellow JCVI member Professor Robert Read told the BBC he thought it "quite possible that the government could move to full reopening" but it would depend on "whether we are seeing cases of vaccine failure" against the Indian mutation.