Can Boris keep his roadmap on track?

Boris Johnson’s favourite phrase since he released his roadmap out of lockdown has been ‘cautious but irreversible’. These are the three words that supposedly describe the UK’s six-month timeline to freedom since it went into lockdown at the start of the year. 

But the phrase was notably absent from tonight’s press conference. Instead, the Prime Minister warned that the rise of the Indian variant B1617.2 could pose a ‘serious disruption to our progress, and could make it more difficult to move to step 4 in June.’

The government’s worries, as Johnson laid out tonight, are what he described as ‘important unknowns’. The key question is to what extent the virus is more transmissible than the other variants. 

Crucially, he emphasised there is currently ‘no evidence to suggest that our vaccines will be less effective in protecting people’ against severe illness and hospitalisation’. But that is not the only factor in their decision-making. If the variant is ‘significantly more transmissible’, he said, ’we’re likely to face some hard choices.