The Prime Minister will host a press conference this afternoon (Monday 12th July) to confirm whether England can move to step 4 of the Roadmap.

Step 4 is expected to begin on Monday 19th July if the government’s “four tests” for easing Covid restrictions have been met.

The Health and Social Care Secretary will announce the plans to parliament.

The four tests are:

• The vaccine deployment programme continues successfully
• Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated
• Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
• Our assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new Variants of Concern

The Prime Minister is expected to urge the public to remain vigilant and exercise caution, praising the efforts of the country for the progress made so far while warning that the pandemic is not over and that caution will be key in the coming weeks.

The latest data will be presented, with current modelling suggesting that Covid cases will continue to rise as restrictions are eased. Hospitalisations, serious illness and deaths will also continue, albeit at a much lower level than before the vaccination programme.

As of 10th July, a total of 80.3 million vaccine doses have been administered in the UK, with 45.7 million adults receiving a first dose (86.9%) and 34.5 million adults receiving both doses (65.6%).

The move to step 4 was delayed by up to four weeks so every adult could be offered a vaccine. 6.8 million first and second doses have already been administered in England during the delay so far.

The delay has also moved the probable end of restrictions to a point closer to the school summer holidays, when transmission is expected to be lower. Reopening at a point later in the year may increase pressure on the NHS because of winter illnesses such as flu

Analysis from Public Health England (PHE) and the University of Cambridge suggests that vaccines have so far prevented an estimated 8.5 million infections and 30,000 deaths in England alone.

It is vital that people keep coming forward to get both jabs when called, with data from PHE showing COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalisation from the Delta variant. The analysis suggests the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 96% effective and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective against hospitalisation after two doses.

The vaccination rollout will continue to accelerate by bringing forward second doses for under 40s to eight weeks – meaning the entire population will benefit from maximum protection more quickly.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

We are tantalisingly close to the final milestone in our roadmap out of lockdown, but the plan to restore our freedoms must come with a warning.

While the phenomenal vaccine rollout has offered every adult some protection against the virus, and the crucial link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths is weakened, the global pandemic is not over yet.

Cases will rise as we unlock, so as we confirm our plans today, our message will be clear. Caution is absolutely vital, and we must all take responsibility so we don’t undo our progress, ensuring we continue to protect our NHS.

• Truss to meet US counterpart Katherine Tai to discuss tackling market-distorting trade practices globally.
• Using trade as a weapon in the fight against climate change and supply chain resilience also on agenda.
• Trip to include West Coast leg to focus on digital and innovation opportunities.

The International Trade Secretary is to meet US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to discuss closer cooperation on tackling threats to free and fair global trade during a five-day visit to the US (11-15 July).

Liz Truss’ meeting with Tai will focus on what we can do to work together and combat market-distorting trade practices such as industrial subsidies and dumping, as well as working together to defend workers and companies that play by the rules against unfair practices in the global trading system, by combating forced labour and strengthening supply-chain resilience.

She will then travel to the West Coast, home to some of the world’s biggest tech companies, to promote the UK as a leading investment destination ahead of the Global Investment Summit in October.

She will meet businesses and investors to discuss opportunities for growth on both sides of the Atlantic. Truss will speak with leading Democrats and the tech industry about how a future UK-US free trade agreement can set gold-standard rules on digital trade.

Digital trade is a major part of the UK economy, with digital sectors contributing around £151bn in 2019. The UK tech sector attracted some $9bn/£7.3bn of foreign investment in 2020. The UK and US are both world leaders for unicorn companies, start-up businesses now worth over £1bn. Based on estimates by Dealroom and Tech Nation, the UK recently passed 100 unicorns, joining the US as one of only three countries to reach this milestone. Deeper trade ties of the kind Truss is pursuing could encourage the creation of many more.

The visit comes in the wake of the recent resolution of the Airbus-Boeing dispute, ensuring harmful tariffs are suspended. It also provides an opportunity to build on commitments made by the UK and US in the new Atlantic Charter to deepen our trade ties.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said:

I’m visiting the US to build on the progress we’ve already made on tackling market-distorting practices that threaten the future progress and prosperity we can make around the world through free and fair trade.

Workers in both the UK and US have suffered when their products are unfairly undercut. We must work together with our friends and allies in the US to protect free enterprise from practices like industrial subsidies and intellectual property theft, which give trade a bad name.

With UK US trade supporting over a million jobs in both countries, there is clear reason to work together to deepen our trade and investment ties and build back better. Together we can build on our credentials as two great innovating nations, and take this opportunity to shape the future of digital trade.

The US is the UK’s largest single trading partner, with total trade reaching over £196bn/$252bn in 2020, supporting over one million jobs in each other’s economies. Both countries have more than $1tn invested in each other’s economies.

Good afternoon and thank you to Minister Franco and Governor Visco for organising this conference.

Friends, climate change is the greatest challenge that we face.

And we must act now, to protect people and nature from its impacts, and to drive down global emissions.

In 2015 the countries of the world signed the Paris Agreement, and committed to do all they could to limit global temperature rises to well below 2 degrees, and closer to 1.5 degrees.

Now, to keep that 1.5 degree limit within reach, we must halve global emissions by 2030.

And these efforts depend on finance.

Without it, the task ahead is near impossible.

So, one of my key aims for COP26 is to get finance flowing to climate action, both public finance and private finance.

We must all respond with the urgency the crisis demands, particularly to mobilise public and private finance into emerging markets and developing countries, where the need is greatest, and help to build green economies, creating jobs and prosperity.

On climate, the G20 nations must lead.

And of course I welcome the progress made by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors over the last two days.

And I am encouraged by the work of the sustainable finance, framework and infrastructure working groups, and the Financial Stability Board.

When it comes to public finance, it is essential that developed countries deliver the $100billion a year that they have promised to developing countries.

In 2018, we mobilised $80 billion, a significant amount, but not enough.

And I have always said, delivering the full $100billion is a matter of trust.

So I welcome the fact that, under the UK Presidency, every G7 country has committed to increase its public finance commitments, including finance for adaptation.

Canada, Germany and Japan have put new money on the table immediately after the G7 summit.

And I look forward to other donors, including other G7 countries, stepping up with new or increased commitments ahead of COP26.

And I am pleased that the IMF is preparing a $650bn allocation of Special Drawing Rights.

The G7 has made clear that they want to channel almost a sixth of the newly allocated SDRs to support healthy, green and resilient recoveries from Covid-19 in the poorest and most vulnerable countries.

And I very much support this call and want other countries to back the G7’s approach.

And I want to see a much, much more ambitious level of SDR recycling from the richer nations, than we saw immediately after the 2009 financial crisis.

So, I urge richer countries, and the IMF, to respond urgently to the G7’s call on SDRs, and the G20 to address the debt challenges faced by developing countries.

I also urge Multilateral Development Banks to take action.

Every MDB should set a date by which they will align with the Paris Agreement, as the World Bank and the EBRD have done.

And every MDB should meet their climate finance targets, increasing them where possible, and develop plans to mobilise more private finance.

When it comes to private finance, we are of course working closely with Finance Ministers, in coordination with the efforts of Mark Carney, to ensure that every financial decision takes climate into account.

And members of GFANZ, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, today represents over $88 trillion of assets. All signed up to science-based targets to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 at the latest.

This is good news, yet we know barriers exist to investment in emerging markets.

Many can seem too risky to attract large-scale institutional capital.

And investors are cautious.

Yet we know that emerging markets hold enormous investment opportunities.

The IFC estimates there are nearly $23 trillion in opportunities for climate-smart investments in emerging markets between now and 2030.

So, as Shemara has just said, we must bring public and private finance together to break down the barriers to investment, and to support a just and inclusive transition to global net zero.

I welcome Macquarie leading the GFANZ work to accelerate this capital into emerging markets.

And I welcome today’s discussion on how MDBs can support the transition to global net zero.

I urge MDBs and private financial firms to increase their collaboration, and scale-up blended finance initiatives and technical assistance, and to improve the conditions for investment within countries, and build pipelines of high-quality, bankable projects.

Together, you can demonstrate that public finance can de-risk investment and leverage in significant private capital.

So, ahead of COP, I encourage MDBs to share plans for mobilising private finance faster, and I urge private financial institutions to work with MDBs on these plans, to help show how finance will flow in support of countries’ ambitious plans for climate action.

Such steps are essential if we are to redirect the sums flowing through the global economy towards our green future, and secure the trillions of dollars required to build resilience, meet global net zero, and keep the 1.5 degree limit alive.

These collaborative efforts must endure far beyond COP26.

Friends, this is the decisive decade.

And the decisions you take now will set the course of the planet.

Business as usual is not an option.

So let’s work together.

To divert finance from the polluting industries of the past, towards our clean, green, and resilient future. Creating jobs and growth in every corner of the globe.

Thank you.