Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he and French President Emmanuel Macron
hope to ease the flow of trade between the two nations “in the next few hours”, after France shut its borders to UK hauliers for 48 hours due to the new coronavirus variant. The variant, which is thought to transmit at a faster rate, is being blamed for a surge in UK cases – and has caused concern among other nations. But, speaking at Downing Street on Monday evening, the PM said a solution would be found “as fast as possible”. Mr Johnson also revealed 500,000 people in the UK had received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. He added the UK could “look forward to a very different world from Easter”. You can learn more about when you will be in line for the vaccine here.