Boris Johnson asks British businesses to ‘keep going’ through coronavirus lockdown
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Boris Johnson has asked the UK’s business owners to “keep going” as he prepares to face his first press conference since March.
Addressing businesses today, the Prime Minister tweeted “I share your anxiety” about the future of the economy, but that the coronavirus lockdown must continue to “protect our NHS and save lives”.
Johnson, who returned to work on Monday after contracting Covid-19, is expected to give more details about the government’s five tests for easing social distancing restrictions at the press briefing.
It is now expected that no changes to the UK’s lockdown will be made until June.
Johnson tweeted: “I know how hard and how stressful it has been to give up even temporarily those ancient and basic freedoms, not seeing friends, not seeing loved ones, working from home, managing the kids, worrying about your job and your firm.
“So let me say directly also to British business, to the shopkeepers, to the entrepreneurs, to the hospitality sector, to everyone on whom our economy depends: I understand your impatience, I share your anxiety.
“But I must ask you to keep going in the way that you have kept going so far, so we can protect our NHS and save lives.”
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) yesterday, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the government was still waiting for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to give its guidance on how to approach the next stage of lockdown, which will be “in the next week or so”.
“I will just gently say that based on the advice and evidence we have from Sage, it would be very difficult to set out those proposals before we’ve had that subsequent advice from Sage,” Raab said.