Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to impress with his artistic talents during a visit to a children’s nursery this morning as he painted bananas.
Mr Johnson revealed his somewhat wonky creation to the pupils of Monkey Puzzle Nursery in Greenford, west London, this morning.
The Prime Minister was surrounded by young children at a large table covered in art supplies.
The children joined Mr Johnson in choosing a fruit from the bowl in the middle of the table and got to work.
Mr Johnson revealed his somewhat wonky creation to the pupils of Monkey Puzzle Nursery in Greenford, west London, this morning
The Prime Minister was surrounded by young children at a large table covered in art supplies
After revealing his decidedly-wonky depiction of the yellow fruit he and went on to discuss the logistics of coronavirus health certificates.
He said that the Government’s review into their possible use will be published in early April, and suggested they could also be based on whether individuals have developed antibodies through infection, as well as vaccination and negative tests.
But landlords rejected their use after his earlier suggestion it could be up to them to decide whether to screen customers’ certificates on entry, ahead of fresh details emerging of a possible incentive for pubs to adopt the measure.
Mr Johnson also defended his credentials as a ‘freedom lover’ as some lockdown-sceptic Conservative backbenchers prepared to rebel in a Commons vote to extend coronavirus laws for a further six months.
The children joined Mr Johnson in choosing a fruit from the bowl in the middle of the table and got to work
The boss of the Shepherd Neame chain said that making jabs mandatory for entry to pubs is a ‘fairly poorly thought-out idea’, as trade bodies suggested the idea was ‘simply unworkable’.
Mr Johnson insisted ‘no decisions have been taken at all’, saying that the review into their possible use will return on either April 5 or 12, and said that ‘whatever happens’ the April 12 reopening of pub gardens will be unaffected.
The Prime Minister said that ‘I do think there is going to be a role for certification’, though it is possible this will be limited to foreign travel.
‘There are three basic components. There’s the vaccine, there’s your immunity you might have had after you’ve had Covid and there’s testing – they are three things that could work together,’ Mr Johnson told broadcasters during a visit to the Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery in Greenford.
After revealing his decidedly-wonky depiction of the yellow fruit he and went on to discuss the logistics of coronavirus health certificates
But he acknowledged there are ‘moral complexities’ and ‘ethical problems’ that must be addressed, raising concerns that pregnant women and those with medical reasons cannot be vaccinated.
‘You might only be able to implement a thoroughgoing vaccination passport scheme, even if you wanted such a thing, in the context of when absolutely everybody had been offered a vaccine,’ Mr Johnson added.
Ministers have insisted that their target of offering all adults a vaccine by the end of July will be met despite the European Union’s threat to control supplies from the continent.
EU leaders will discuss proposals aimed at tightening restrictions on vaccine exports at a virtual European Council summit on Thursday.
He said that the Government’s review into their possible use will be published in early April, and suggested they could also be based on whether individuals have developed antibodies through infection, as well as vaccination and negative tests
Meanwhile, MPs will be asked to approve the regulations for the route out of lockdown and keep some of the emergency powers in the Coronavirus Act in place until September.
Though they are expected to pass comfortably because Labour will not oppose them, the leader of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown-sceptic Tory MPs was highly critical of the move.
Mark Harper, a former chief whip, said he has not ‘heard a single good answer about why’ the Government wants to extend ‘very significant draconian powers’ for a further six months.
Ahead of the vote, Mr Johnson said: ‘The libertarian in me is also trying to protect people’s fundamental right to life and their ability to live their lives normally.
‘And the only way really to restore that for everybody is for us to beat the disease and the best path to freedom is down the cautious but irreversible road map that we’ve set out – that’s what the freedom lover wants.’