Rishi Sunak says two-metre rule is being reviewed ‘urgently’ ahead of high street relaunch TOMORROW

Ministers are ‘urgently’ looking at whether the two metre social distancing rules can be relaxed to boost shops and allow more pubs and restaurants to reopen, Rishi Sunak said today.

In a clear sign he would like the rule eased the Chancellor admitted he could see the ‘positive impact’ of reducing it to 1.5metres or one metre, citing other nations which have already made such a change.

It came as the UK’s high streets prepare to come back to life from tomorrow, with non-essential retailers allowed to open their doors for the first time since March.

The Chancellor told shoppers it was safe to go out and said it was important to save people’s jobs. 

He told Sky’s Ridge on Sunday: ‘It’s the difference between three quarters and maybe a third of pubs opening. So it is importantly that we look at it. 

‘Now that we have made good progress in suppressing the virus we are at a different stage in the epidemic than we were at the beginning. That enables us to take a fresh look at this.

‘Obviously many other countries around the world use a different rule and indeed we have seen a couple of countries recently – I think Norway and Denmark – have moved from two metres to something less as well.

‘But is it important we look at it comprehensively in the round and that is what we will do urgently.’

He added: ‘I can very much understand the positive impact it will have on businesses’ ability to open and thereby maintain the jobs that they have and make sure the people who work for them can come back to those jobs and remain employed. At the same time we must make sure it is safe to do so.’

Mr Sunak had earlier appealed to British shoppers to get out there and spend some money appealing to them to  ‘get out there, get shopping’ amid the worst economic decline in generations, with GDP plummeting by a quarter in just two months.

All non-essential retailers are able to open their doors and lift their shutters from tomorrow morning, allowing weary consumers an opportunity to get out and spend.

But with unemployment figures this coming week expected to show that jobless numbers have skyrocketed despite the Chancellor’s multi-billion-pound furlough scheme, he acknowledged that there will be some anxiety.

He told the Sun on Sunday: ‘It’s important that as a country we’ve got to reawaken our lion spirit. That’s what we are about.

‘We’ve got to rediscover our confidence and get our lives back to normal.

So my message is simple — get out there, get shopping. Those are all the things we used to love doing before the pandemic and, bit by bit, we need to get back to where we were.’ 

However, with a nod to  consumer uncertainty he added: ‘I am very conscious that there will be anxiety. For some time, many people have not been inside a shop and, in a way, we all have to relearn the behaviours we took for granted.

‘We’ve been living with anxiety now for 12 weeks but the good news is that we’ve made enormous progress.

‘Bit by bit, that confidence will come back and the anxiety will reduce. But it’s not going to happen overnight.’

Leading by example, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to visit a high street this week – in his first public visit since lockdown began – to reassure shoppers it’s safe to return to non-essential activities.  

He urged British shoppers to head to the High Street to kick-start the flailing economy when stores reopen on Monday as the PM faces a cabinet backlash over plans to ease Sunday trading laws for a year. 

Economic figures on Friday showed the UK economy in freefall with a record 20.4 per cent decline in April.

GDP plummeted by more than a fifth in the first full month of the crippling lockdown being in place, following a 5.8 per cent slump in March – which was in itself a the biggest dive ever at the time.

UK plc has now contracted by 25 per cent since February – with the country facing the worst recession in 300 years, when the Great Frost laid waste to Europe.  

Boris Johnson has ordered a comprehensive review of the two-metre social-distancing rule amid calls it should be scrapped.

Easing the restriction is seen as vital if businesses such a restaurants and pubs are to be able to re-open sustainably.

The the review would effectively take control of social-distancing guidelines out of the hands of the Government’s scientific advisers, who have been deeply reluctant to countenance relaxation. 

With many people thought to be nervous about going out again after nearly three months in lockdown, Business Secretary Alok Sharma sought to reassure the public that measures had been put in place to ensure their safety.

Writing in the Sunday Express, he said: ‘We need to get Britain’s economy firing again, while at the same time making sure we keep people safe and avoid a second peak of the disease.’

Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the two-metre social distancing rule should only be relaxed if the science backs such a move.

He told Ridge on Sunday: ‘It should be reduced if the evidence indicated that it should be.

‘This is where we need to be so careful because the public health position and the health of the economy go together. There’s no point seeing them in conflict.’

Mr Thomas-Symonds added: ‘If it did move to one metre without there being scientific advice backing that you would end up with a second peak, which would cause even greater economic damage.

‘My message to the Government is to be vigilant, be cautious, approach this in a structured way and publish the evidence so we can all see it, and we can get that restoration of confidence in the public health advice that the Dominic Cummings affair did so much damage to.’