Sunday shows roundup: No. 10 won’t set an ‘arbitrary target’ for lifting lockdown

With the vaccine rollout exceeding expectations, the government now faces pressure from its own side of the House to lift the current lockdown as fast as possible. The Covid Recovery Group, chaired by the former chief whip Mark Harper, has sent a letter to the PM which has been endorsed by 63 MPs calling for all restrictions to be lifted after the nine designated vulnerable groups have received their vaccines – which is forecast for the end of April. Appearing on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, foreign secretary Dominic Raab set out the government’s position:

DR: I don’t think you can set an arbitrary target, and not be evidence led… which is why [our] review on February 22 is so important… By the end of April [there should be] a further 17 million people offered their first dose… That’s the roadmap we’ve set out.