Dominic Raab adds to confusion over changes to UK lockdown rules

The confusion over Boris Johnson’s request for people to return to work if they can has continued, as the foreign secretary said changes would be introduced on Wednesday.

The prime minister made a televised address to the nation on Sunday evening setting out his roadmap out of the coronavirus lockdown. He justified the timing – which meant he did not appear before parliament – because some changes would be introduced on Monday.

However, Dominic Raab said that from Wednesday people could go back to work and more guidance would be set out in a document later on Monday.

“Starting this Wednesday the new step measures will begin,” Raab told Radio 4’s Today programme, adding there could be more announcements on 1 June and 4 July.

“If you can work from home you should continue to do so but there are vital sectors of the economy like manufacturers and construction, where people can’t do their job from home, so we are saying to them they should now, from Wednesday, go back to work.

“The guidance – the full detail will be set out in a document today and then further guidance on Tuesday. So all of the guidance and preparation could be done.”

Johnson told MPs at prime minister’s questions last week that “we will want, if we possibly can, to get going with some of these measures on Monday, and I think it will be a good thing if people have an idea of what is coming the following day.”

His only direct mention of changes being brought in on Wednesday this week was in relation to allowing unlimited exercise.

Raab said it was up to employers to make sure their workplaces were safe for employees and workers should use their common sense if they do not feel their workplace is secure.

On whether workers could walk out, he said he would not answer “hypothetical” scenarios.

The government is now using a “stay alert” message, which has replaced the “stay at home” slogan.

It was put to Raab that lower earners will be going back to work first and therefore risk catching and spreading the disease, while white-collar professionals can stay at home, which could create a two-tier system.

Raab said workers would only return to “Covid-secure settings”, that further sector-specific guidance would be released, and that businesses have been given a “lead time” to implement changes.

The Today presenter Mishal Husain said: “People might already be on their way to work now, not knowing what kind of workplace they will find.”

To which Raab replied: “No, the changes will take effect from Wednesday.”

In another major update, Raab said it was possible for someone to meet both of their parents in a park as long as they kept two metres apart, signalling it is now OK to see people from other households outdoors.

Earlier he told BBC Breakfast that as long as people used their common sense and stayed two metres apart they could “meet up with other people”.

Anyone arriving in the UK will be subject to 14-day isolation period, except people coming from France, Ireland and those transporting vital freight, he said.