The Prime Minister today failed to completely rule out further lockdowns 鈥 despite being dead set against more restrictions 鈥 amid growing concerns over the spread of Covid-19 this autumn and winter.
On a visit to Leicester today Boris Johnson said he was keen to avoid further significant measures ahead of an announcement tomorrow setting out how vaccinations will be key to slowing the spread of coronavirus in the months to come.
Speaking to BusinessLive and Radio Leicester he said: 鈥淚 do want to stress directly, we don鈥檛 want to be going back to regional tiering or that type of approach.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that is where we want to go back to.
鈥淐learly we don鈥檛 want to be going back to lockdowns of any kind and I will be setting out how we hope to avoid that.
鈥淏ut we will have to keep some tools in reserve.鈥
Guidance to work from home and mandatory face masks could form part of the next stage in tackling Covid-19, with rules that are no longer needed - such as the traffic lights travel system - being ditched.
Mr Johnson spoke on a visit to see work being done at the British Gas Training academy 鈥 one of four being used to train up 3,500 engineers over the next decade as the business heads towards a zero carbon future.
He was joined on the trip by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
The Prime Minister said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do everything that鈥檚 right to protect the country.
鈥淏ut the way things are going at the moment we鈥檙e very confident in the steps that we鈥檝e taken.鈥
Number 10 also said another lockdown over winter would only be considered as a 鈥渓ast resort鈥.
The Prime Minister鈥檚 official spokesman told reporters: 鈥淲e are in a very different place than where we were previously when other lockdowns were introduced, thanks to the success of our vaccine programme and other things like therapeutics treatments for coronavirus.
鈥淲e would only ever consider those sort of measures as a last resort and we will set out in more detail tomorrow what our approach will be should we see a significant increase in cases.鈥
Mr Johnson was also asked if he was confident that shops would be adequately stocked for Christmas in light of current shortages caused by the 海角视频 HGV driver crisis.
The PM said: 鈥淚 do.
鈥淚 think that we have very resilient supply chains and my information is that people shouldn鈥檛 worry about that.
鈥淚 think I would give the same advice that we鈥檝e given throughout the pandemic 鈥 which is we don鈥檛 think under any circumstances that panic buying makes sense.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got very resilient supply chains.鈥
Bosses from major companies such as the Co-op and distribution giant Pall-Ex have blamed a combination of Brexit and the pandemic on a shortfall of 60,000-or-so drivers.
However the PM said Europe as a whole was facing a problem of young people not choosing HGV driving as a career.
He said: 鈥淭here are issues to do with the HGV profession at the moment, they are appearing across Europe.
鈥淏ut one thing we have done 鈥 don鈥檛 forget 鈥 is we took advantage of that new freedom we have to move beyond EU regulation and to allow people with post-97 driving licences to drive bigger vehicles as well.鈥
He said the Government was also encouraging young people into training 鈥 for instance offering businesses 拢3,000 for each new apprentice they take on 鈥 and said wages were up 4 per cent than where they were before the pandemic.
Overall, he said, the economy had bounced back strongly from the pandemic.
He said: 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got a situation now where unemployment is 2 million below what people forecast 鈥 we are going through the fastest growth in the G7.鈥
Following months of reports of some smaller sub-contractors in Leicester鈥檚 textile sector exploiting staff, the PM said his Government was campaigning against modern slavery.
He said: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a total abomination and we believe that people should treat their employees properly and responsibly.
鈥淲hat I would urge is people who are aware of illegal practices, whether here or anywhere in the country, should blow the whistle.鈥
He was also bullish about future rail plans for the East and West Midlands and Yorkshire in light of concerns over the planned HS2 eastern section which is set to join Birmingham to Toton in Notts, Sheffield, then Leeds.
He the regions affected would have to wait and see what the Government鈥檚 Integrated Rail Plan had to say, despite suggestions the eastern leg could be cut short half way, and end at Parkway Station near East Midlands Airport.
He said: 鈥淚 think the plans will be fantastic for the East Midlands and HS2, as it develops, is going to be transformative across the whole of the country.鈥
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