self-isolate in line with national guidance, abandoning heavily criticised plans

to take part in a pilot scheme that would have allowed them to continue
working.
The U-turn comes a day after health minister Sajid Javid said he had tested
positive for COVID-19 and at a time when the government's coronavirus
response is under intense scrutiny.
Almost all remaining restrictions in England will be lifted on Monday despite a
surge in infections as ministers put their faith in the advanced vaccine
programme.
Cases are rising by more than 50,000 a day and hundreds of thousands of
Britons are being asked to self isolate for 10 days, causing havoc for
employers and parents, prompting train cancellations and forcing some
businesses to close their doors.
The government announced at 0700 GMT that Johnson and Sunak had been
exposed to a person with COVID-19 and would take part in a trial scheme that
allowed them to keep working instead of self-isolating.
But less than three hours later that decision had been reversed after a flurry of
criticism from voters, political opponents and business owners.
"We did look briefly at the idea of us taking part in the pilot scheme... but I
think it's far more important that everybody sticks to the same rules," Johnson
said in a video message from his country residence, where he will isolate until
July 26.
Opposition politicians had said it was hypocritical for Johnson and Sunak to
have tried to exempt themselves from some of the rules.
"Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have been busted yet again for thinking the
rules that we are all following don’t apply to them," said Labour Party leader
Keir Starmer.
Sunak also acknowledged the backlash over their initial decision.
"I recognise that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is
wrong," he said on Twitter.
The government's handling of the pandemic has been dogged with episodes
that have damaged public trust - most recently when then-health minister
Matt Hancock was pictured kissing an adviser, in breach of social distancing
regulations. He later resigned.
Housing minister Robert Jenrick confirmed that the government would go
ahead with its "freedom day" plan on Monday, removing the requirement to
wear face masks, lifting limits on social gatherings and allowing high-risk
businesses to reopen.
Johnson used his video message to plead with the public to take a cautious
approach to the change of rules.
"Please, please, please, be cautious," he said.
"Go forward tomorrow into the next step with all the right prudence and
respect for other people, for the risks that the disease continues to present
and, above all, please, please, please when you're asked to get that second
jab ... please come forward and do it."
Ministers argue that the vaccination programme, under which 87.8% of the
adult population has had one vaccine and 67.8% have been double
vaccinated, has largely broken the link between cases and mortality.
"The last time we had cases at the level we do today, the