Parliamentary reporter @TrinderMatt

BORIS JOHNSON must do more to protect people’s livelihoods, unions demanded yesterday, after the Prime Minister announced a four-week delay to plans to ease England’s lockdown restrictions. 

Following the announcement on Monday that the current rules would remain in place beyond June 21 to July 19, the TUC called for an extension to job support schemes and urgent targeted support for the badly hit hospitality and arts sectors.

Transport unions warned that the delay, caused by the government’s failure to contain the Delta variant of Covid-19 first detected in India, would put more financial pressure on trains, buses and airlines suffering from a massive downturn in passenger numbers during the pandemic.