Covid: 'We're travelling on a one-way road to freedom' - Johnson - BBC News
Boris Johnson hails the vaccine effort he says means people "can begin safely to restart our lives".
The prime minister struck a largely optimistic tone tonight .He was unveiling a "one-way road to freedom".

But it’s not clear that the journey will end on 21 June.

That’s the earliest date in the road map for the lifting of restrictions in England.

But at his press conference, Boris Johnson was careful to say this is when "most" restrictions will be lifted.

The accompanying document has made clear "the government cannot rule out re-imposing economic and social restrictions at a local or regional level... to suppress a variant which escapes the vaccine".

But even if that pessimistic pandemic twist doesn’t happen, at the end of the vaccination programme only two-thirds of the population will be inoculated.

So while 21 June could be the day when rules governing how many of us can meet and where will end, some of the now familiar paraphernalia of the pandemic could be with us for some time - some degree of social distancing, testing, and, yes, self-isolation.

And Boris Johnson pointed out that quite a few matters are under review including the "complex" issue of whether to issue vaccination certificates.

And while overall the prime minister was upbeat - "spring is on its way" - his medical and scientific advisers managed to restrain any enthusiasm.

There were warnings that Covid-19 could still be with us for several winters.

And that’s worrying some of Boris Johnson's own MPs.

They say he is already moving far too slowly down "Freedom Road" and fear that he may yet do a U-turn and head, to them, back in the wrong direction.