Boris Johnson has delayed a cabinet meeting where he was due to present ministers with his “living with Covid” plan, No 10 sources have confirmed.
The surprise move came after government ministers had been photographed arriving in Downing Street for the meeting — originally scheduled to commence at 10am.
However, the meeting, signing off the lifting of England’s remaining domestic Covid restrictions, is now expected to take place later on Monday after the prime minister has received further briefings.
As part of the measures, the government is expected to lift the legal requirement for individuals to self-isolate after a positive test.
There is also speculation Mr Johnson will set out controversial plans to end the provision free lateral flow tests and self-isolation payments for those on lower incomes.
No immediate explanation was provided for the delay, but reports pointed to a rift between Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, and Sajid Javid, the health secretary, over funds and testing.
On Sunday, Mr Johnson told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme the UK spent £2 billion on testing in January alone and that such high expenditure did not need to continue.
Paul Scully, the business minister, echoed this on Monday and told Sky News: “If you think what that £2 billion might go towards, there’s a lot of other backlogs in the NHS, other illnesses in the NHS, that that money could otherwise go for.
Mr Scully said the public should not “work and live under government diktat for a moment longer than is necessary” ahead of the expected announcement.
Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, however, seized on the delay of the cabinet meeting, saying: “The government is paralysed by its own chaos and incompetence and the British public are paying the price. This shambles cannot continue.
“What confidence can the public have that the Conservatives are acting in the national interest, when they can’t agree a plan for Covid?
“It is clear the prime minister was trying to declare victory before the war is over, simply to distract from the police knocking at the door of Number 10.
It also comes after the Welsh government hit out at reports that free tests would soon end, with a spokesperson labelling any such move “premature and reckless”.
“Testing has played a pivotal role in breaking chains of transmission of Covid, and has acted as a powerful surveillance tool helping us to detect and respond rapidly to emerging variants,” they added.
Any decision to effectively turn off the tap on our National Testing Programme with no future plans in place to reactivate it would put people at risk. This is not acceptable.”
The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, also posted on social media that if the chancellor “wins” the row, “the concern is more than just an end to free access to testing in short term (a decision I don’t agree with) - it’ll also be hard for UK to retain adequate testing capacity for longer term surveillance & response to new variants. Let’s hope common sense prevails”.
