SENIOR Tory MPs are urging prime minister Boris Johnson to lift restrictions as planned this month while Scotland opts for a slower pace of reopening.
Senior MPs have reportedly urged the UK prime minister to “get on with” relaxing restrictions on June 21 after Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced it would slow down the pace to allow more people to be fully vaccinated.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith has urged the government to "go ahead with June 21” and ignore Scotland's intervention, saying let Sturgeon “play her games.”
"This is not a competition. If the evidence doesn't stack up, you get on with it [unlocking],” he told The Telegraph, stressing that “we haven't seen any uptick in hospitalisations.”
Tory MP Peter Bone has also said to have urged Johnson to ignore Sturgeon's decision saying Scotland has a "totally different" and "not comparable" system of regional tiers of restrictions.
Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group (CRG), said there should be no reason not to “open up fully” on June 21 while the former minister and CRG member David Jones said that he “personally cannot see the justification for delay.”
The demand to reopen as planned increased further as Britain recorded zero Covid-19 deaths in the country on Tuesday (1), the first time since March 7 last year.
Welcoming the milestone, health secretary Matt Hancock said this is an encouraging sign that vaccines are breaking the link between infections and hospitalisations.
Johnson also is said to be optimistic about current data though a Downing Street source said the next few days would be crucial to assess the impact of the unlocking that took place from May 17, adding that as of now, there is “no evidence that definitively suggests we should delay.”
Britain's zero death day milestone has also reinforced business calls for the government to push ahead with plans for its fourth and final stage of unlocking the economy. UK Hospitality, which represents about 85,000 venues, said jobs will be lost if there’s a delay to the end of lockdown measures.
Night Time Industries Association chief executive Michael Kill has warned that the future of nine in 10 nightlife businesses is threatened after more than a year of enforced closures, calling it “devastating for the industry.”
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)