UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has postponed a cabinet meeting to have a security briefing and to finalise plans for the removal of all of the remaining COVID-19 restrictions in England, his spokesman says.
The spokesman declined to comment on reports the meeting on Monday had been delayed because there were still some issues to be resolved between the Department of Health and the finance ministry.
"It was postponed until this afternoon so that the prime minister could have both a security briefing and to have further meetings to finalise the plan on living with COVID," the spokesman said.
The Press Association reported that the delay to the cabinet meeting was thought to centre on a request from Health Secretary Sajid Javid regarding how elements of the "living with COVID" plan will be funded.
There have been reports that Johnson's plan could include the ending of free coronavirus tests for the majority of people, which could be a point of contention between senior ministers.
with reporting from PA