Britain’s roads were packed with traffic this morning as phone data showed that millions more people are taking to the roads in a further sign that they are starting to get back to work despite the coronavirus lockdown.
It will pile pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson who returned to work today as calls for an easing of the lockdown from within his party grow. With measures in place until at least May 7, he acknowledged frustrations over the restrictions but insisted he would not risk a second peak in the disease by relaxing them too quickly.
Photographs taken during rush hour showed queues building up on London roads including the A40 at Perivale and the A102 at Greenwich, while the M5 in Bristol and the M6 in Walsall were also busy with cars, vans and lorries.
Meanwhile rail commuters continue to pile onto London Underground trains as travel bosses carry on running a reduced service only for key workers, with Canning Town and Canada Water stations both busy this morning.
Mobility data from Apple based on requests for directions via its apps showed more people are now driving, but the use of public transport has remained static. Traffic in London last Friday and Saturday was up 4 per cent on the week before. Walking is also steadily increasing – it was up 8 per cent on the week before in London on Saturday.
Live TomTom congestion data in London showed levels at 8am today of 14 per cent, down 49 percentage points on the normal 63 per cent. At 8am last Tuesday to Thursday, it was down 51 to 53 percentage points on normal.
Meanwhile Google Maps showed congestion in parts of central and southern London this morning, in another sign that there are more cars on the road today than in recent weeks since the lockdown began on March 23.
It comes after Home Secretary Priti Patel warned drivers to stay off the roads unless their journey is essential following traffic volumes rising last week to 41 per cent of normal compared to 38 per cent the previous week.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under pressure to restart the economy having returned to Downing Street last night three weeks after he was admitted to hospital with the virus to take charge of the Government’s response.
He will chair the morning meeting of the Government’s Covid-19 ‘war cabinet’ before heading into discussions with senior ministers and officials after a fortnight convalescing at his official country residence of Chequers.
Mr Johnson is facing a growing clamour from senior Tories to begin lifting the lockdown amid mounting concern at the damage it is causing to the economy, although there are fears that any relaxation risks a renewed flare up.
Traffic builds up on the A40 at Perivale in West London at 7.20am today despite the coronavirus lockdown continuing
Cars drive along the the A40 at Perivale in West London at 7.20am today as the UK-wide lockdown continues
Mobility data from Apple based on requests for directions via its apps showed levels of people driving (in red) or walking (in orange) are both gradually rising, although the use of public transport (in purple) has remained roughly the same all month
This TomTom graph shows congestion in London at 8am today was at 14 per cent. This is down 49 percentage points on the normal level. At 8am on Tuesday to Thursday last week, the congestion levels were down between 51 and 53 percentage points on normal levels.
The lockdown is due to be reviewed on May 7, but there have been signs that it could be modified before this date, with early measures likely to include encouraging the construction industry to get back to work.
Mr Johnson said today that the UK is at the point of ‘maximum risk’ in its battle with coronavirus, adding that there are signs the country is ‘passing through the peak’ of the outbreak and ‘coming now to the end of the first phase of this conflict’.
Comparing the disease to a mugger, he said: ‘This is the moment when we have begun, together, to wrestle it to the floor.’ But he said it is also the moment of maximum risk because of the danger that people would look at the ‘apparent success’ and ‘go easy’ on social distancing measures.
It remains the ‘biggest single challenge this country has faced since the war’, he said, and ‘every day I know that this virus brings new sadness and mourning to households across the land’.
More than 20,000 people have already died with the disease in hospitals, with the true death toll including care homes and other settings likely to be far higher.
Speaking from a podium in Downing Street this morning, Mr Johnson acknowledged the pressure to lift some of the draconian restrictions imposed on British people and businesses.
He said: ‘I want to get this economy moving as fast as I can’ but ‘I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life.’
Meanwhile the FTSE 100 index of Britain’s leading companies was up 97 points or 1.7 per cent at 5,849 this morning, following overnight gains as world leaders up their plans to reopen their economies.
Scientific advice has revealed that the virus spreads much less effectively outdoors, but a Government source cautioned that any easing of the lockdown would be very gradual to avoid a deadly second wave of infection.
They said: ‘We are moving on from Stay at Home. But that does not mean we are anywhere near going back to normal. We are all going to have to adapt to a new normal. The Prime Minister’s big concern is avoiding a second peak, which would require a second lockdown.
‘He is clear that we cannot afford to do anything which would mean losing control of the rate of infection because that would mean more people dying. It would also mean a return to the lockdown, which would be damaging to public trust and terrible for business.’
Health minister Edward Argar said the Prime Minister’s focus would be on looking at what measures are required to ease the lockdown, including what preparations businesses will need to make beforehand.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: ‘This isn’t binary, it is a complex set of inter-related decisions and impacts, and I’m hugely pleased he (Boris Johnson) is back at work today with his health fully restored, both as my boss but also as a friend and colleague.
‘That’s one of the things the Prime Minister will be looking at very carefully. But we do need to keep that focus on the health impact because one of the worst things, not just for the incredible human cost it would have but for our economy, would be if we let up too soon and then saw a further spike.
This Google traffic map shows how the roads around London are mostly clear (in green) during rush hour this morning at about 8.15am, although there are patches of congestion (in orange or red) in some southern and central parts of the capital
Traffic builds up on the A102 at Greenwich in South East London during rush hour this morning as the lockdown continues
Traffic builds up on the A102 in Greenwich in South East London today as the fight against coronavirus continues
Traffic builds up on the M4 motorway at Datchet in Berkshire during the morning rush hour at about 8am today
‘That would be far more damaging to our economy than a continuation of where we are at the moment. We have got to be very careful about understanding the health impact but also the economic impact.’
Mr Argar also said ‘we’re not there yet’ when it comes to easing social distancing measures.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘I understand the frustrations that people are having with these measures, they are restrictive and they are very difficult.’
He said the measures have ‘made a real difference’.
He added: ‘I’ve seen a lot of the speculation in the papers and beyond in recent days but the reality is we’re not there yet. We’re not in a place where the science says it is safe to ease the restrictions.’
Six donors to the Conservative Party yesterday publicly called for an easing of restrictions. Billionaire financier Michael Spencer, who helped bankroll Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign, said the measures should be loosened ‘as soon as we reasonably can’.
A survey by the Institute of Directors shows that confidence among company bosses is at the lowest level recorded, with 70 per cent pessimistic about the outlook for the economy.
IoD chief Jon Geldart said there was a growing clamour for information about ‘how and when’ the lockdown would be eased to allow firms to ‘make plans for riding out this tempest’.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab insisted the ‘Stay at Home’ message was still needed and said it would ‘create more uncertainty in the public’s mind’ if ministers started talking about how it might be eased. But behind the scenes, senior figures are now working on a new message.
A ‘quad’ of senior ministers, comprising Mr Raab, Mr Hancock, Michael Gove and Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been holding a daily strategy meeting at 6pm to discuss ‘the next phase’ of the battle against the virus.
Election guru Isaac Levido has been tasked with devising a slogan, which could be unveiled within days following focus group testing. Mr Johnson will today begin holding one-to-one talks with each member of the Cabinet to discuss developments which occurred during his absence.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said she wants to see shifts staggered and social distancing rules continue when the lockdown is eased by the Government.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Everyone wants people to get back to work safely so we can get the economy back on its feet.
‘But workers have to know and be confident that their health and safety is being put first. Otherwise we are going to see the virus spread again and be back to square one.
‘We are calling for tough new measures – we think there should be a proper risk assessment on the virus in every workplace, that we need practical changes like social distancing, staggered shifts, safe transport.
Traffic near junction ten on the M6 at Walsall in the West Midlands this morning as drivers hit the mororway
Motorists drive along the M6 motorway at Walsall today as cars, vans and lorries hit the roads this morning
People make their morning commute along the M5 motorway in Bristol during rush hour today
Cars, vans and lorries travel along the M5 in Bristol this morning as they commute to work in the South West of England
‘And we need those risk assessments signed-off by unions or health and safety inspectors, with tough enforcement and the resources to do that tough enforcement.’
Ms O’Grady said the issue should be at the ‘top of the Prime Minister’s in-tray’ now that he has returned to work.
A Government spokesman said: ‘The Business Secretary continues to meet regularly with representatives from all sectors, business organisations and trade unions.
‘It is only right the Government works together with industry and unions to ensure workplaces are as safe as possible both now, and as Government measures develop.
‘Only when the evidence suggests that it is safe to do so, and the scientific advice provides for it, will we adjust the current measures in place.’
Mr Raab – who has been deputising for Mr Johnson in his absence – said he was ‘raring to go’ at a time when the numbers of patients in hospital with the disease is beginning to fall.
Over the weekend, ministers highlighted a warning by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey of the economic devastation a second wave of the disease would cause.
Mr Raab said the outbreak was at a ‘delicate and dangerous’ phase and people would have to get used to a ‘new normal’ – with social distancing measures set to remain in place for ‘some time’ to come.
Mr Johnson – who spent a week in St Thomas’ Hospital in London, including three nights intensive care – is said to be determined to ensure that there is no second peak.
The pressure to begin easing the restrictions came from a series of wealthy Tory backers who called over the weekend for the Government to allow the economy to re-start.
They echoed former chancellor Philip Hammond who said the country could not afford to wait for a vaccine to be developed, saying the ‘economy will not survive that long’.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee of MPs, told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour that more needed to be done to get the economy moving, and there was a limit to how long people would tolerate restrictions, especially if they seemed illogical.
He urged an ‘overriding principle … that we will only maintain those restrictions which are necessary and if there is a question over whether something is necessary or not, I think we should ere on the side of openness and trying to make sure that more people can get on with their lives and more people can get on with getting back to their jobs’.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – while backing the lockdown – added to the pressure with a renewed call for the Government to set out an ‘exit strategy’ explaining how it will eventually be lifted.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will face further questions from MPs when he delivers a Commons statement on the state of the economy.
He has already had to effectively tear up his first Budget last month just days after delivering it with a series of massive bailouts designed to keep the economy afloat through the crisis.
The Prime Minister, meanwhile, has less then two weeks before the next major decision point comes up with the next three-week review of the lockdown restrictions due on May 7.
Mr Raab said the Government was doing its ‘homework’ in preparation for when the rules could be eased.
It is thought that amongst the first could be a re-opening of schools, although Mr Raab said that would be ‘inconceivable’ without some further measures in place.
Ministers are also thought to be considering allowing some non-essential businesses to open such as garden centres and car showrooms, provided social-distancing could be maintained.
Commuters wait to board a Jubilee line train at Canning Town station in East London this morning
Passengers stand on board a Jubilee line train before it departs Canning Town station in East London this morning
Passengers leave and board a Jubilee train at Canada Water station on the Underground in South East London this morning
Commuters walk down stairs at Canning Town station in East London today during the Monday morning commute
Mr Raab also indicated that officials were looking at possible checks at air and sea ports with passengers arriving in the UK required to quarantine for 14 days.
Such a measure could form part of the next stage of the Government’s response – the so-called ‘test, track and trace’ strategy designed to further suppress the spread of the disease by isolating new cases.
However, Government scientific and medical experts have indicated the current infection rate will have to come down further before such tactics can be effective.
In the meantime, ministers have insisted that the remain on track to meet Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month which falls on Thursday.
Mr Raab said at the weekend that the testing capacity had risen to more than 50,000 – although according to the latest official figures the numbers carried out have only reached 29,000.
Ministers will be hoping they pick up as NHS staff and other key workers return to work following the weekend.