Lockdown Stage 4: All the rules and reopenings that could happen on June 21

9 June 2021, 15:55

What will the rules be in the fourth stage of lockdown-easing and will it be introduced on June 21?

When announcing his roadmap out of lockdown earlier this year, Boris Johnson said that the fourth and final stage would be introduced on June 21 at the earliest.

In recent weeks, however, there has been some doubt over whether this date will go ahead due to growing concerns about the Delta variant (first discovered in India).

The government are said to be considering the possibility of pushing back the date, meaning that we may have to wait a little while longer before the rules are lifted.

Here's your need-to-know on what the rules will be in the next stage of lockdown-easing.

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What will the lockdown rules be from June 21?

If the June 21 date goes ahead as planned, all legal limits on social contact will be removed.

This will effectively mark the end of lockdown, and there will no longer be any restrictions on the amount of people you can meet indoors and outdoors.

At this time, nightclubs will reopen, weddings will return without a cap on guests, and sports events and festivals may be able to resume.

According to the government, large events will be subject to "the results of a scientific events research programme to test the outcome of certain pilot events through the spring and summer, where we will trial the use of testing and other techniques to cut the risk of infection."

Will the rules on masks and social distancing end in stage four?

We don't yet know for sure whether guidelines on masks and social distancing will stay in force in certain settings.

Will the June 21 date go ahead?

There has been some speculation that the date could be pushed back due to concern about the Delta variant, first discovered in India, with Matt Hancock saying last Sunday that the government is 'open' to delaying it.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, he said: "We are absolutely open to doing that if that's what needs to happen. We said in the roadmap that June 21 is the date by which we would not take Step 4 before that date and that we would look at the data.

"That is exactly what we are doing, so the roadmap was set up in order to be able to take these sort of changes into account."