As he prepares to unveil plans on Sunday for how the UK can come out of lockdown, prime minister Boris Johnson suggested the difficulty of social distancing on public transport should lead to a 'golden age of cycling'.
At his first prime minister's questions since surviving COVID-19, Mr Johnson prepared the ground for a big announcement this weekend that is set to move the nation into a second phase and a 'new normal'.
Reports suggest the government will drop the “Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” slogan from Saturday night, and urge people to “Stay safe, save lives”.
The three-week review of the lockdown restrictions will take place today, but Mr Johnson promised that on Sunday he would outline a road map for socially distanced work, travel and schooling.
A key part of the plans will be developing practical strategies to avoid crowding on mass transit, Mr Johnson said.
'A crucial part of our success now in getting transport to run safely will be running a bigger and more expansive tube service so that people can observe social distancing, and we will certainly be working with the [London] mayor in trying to achieve that,' he said.
'There must be mitigations to help people who for reasons of social distancing cannot use mass transit. And there will be a huge amount of planning going into helping people to get to work other than by mass transit. This will be I hope, this will be, or should be, a new golden age for cycling.'
