Downing Street says "no final decisions" have been made on whether all coronavirus restrictions in England will be legally lifted on 19 July.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesman told reporters: "It is right that obviously we want to get back to as close to normal as is possible.

"However, no final decisions have been taken about what measures are required.

Earlier Environment Secretary George Eustice said he hoped not to have to wear a mask after 19 July.

Asked whether the PM hopes to "bin" his own face masks on that date, his spokesman says: "That would depend. The prime minister, should there be any requirement for it in future, would be happy to comply."

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, PA Media

Silverstone will be allowed to have a capacity crowd for next month's British Grand Prix.

The track can hold about 140,000 spectators, which will make it the largest crowd for a sporting event in the UK since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Silverstone says it will work closely with public health experts on the "specific conditions of entry that will enable the event to operate safely".

The move follows large crowds being permitted for the final matches of Euro 2020, Wimbledon and Open Championship golf.

Read more.

Europe is "on thin ice" with the spread of the Delta variant, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is warning.

Her cautious words come as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says the variant will account for 90% of EU cases by late August.

The Delta variant, first identified in India, is thought to be 40%-60% more transmissible.

The predominant variant in Europe at the moment remains Alpha, which was first discovered in the UK and spread across the continent early this year.

"Even if the third wave has been broken, the pandemic is not yet over," Merkel tells Germany's parliament.

Asked about Merkel's suggestion EU countries should restrict travel from the UK to stop the spread, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson says: "It is a matter for individual countries to decide their own policies, as we do ours."

You can find out more about the Delta variant here. And for more on Merkel's warning and the latest on the situation in European countries see this news story.

Image source, Tom Singleton

A Briton on holiday with his family on the Greek island of Kos is waiting for this afternoon's announcement on international travel to see whether he will need to quarantine on his return home.

But Tom Singleton, from Derby, says it "makes no sense" why his choice of destination will not be included on the "green list".

The government is expected to increase the number of "safe" destinations where people can travel to this summer without having to self-isolate for up to 10 days on their return.

All parts of Greece are currently on the amber list but there is speculation that the country's islands, where cases are lower, may be put on the green list first.

“We had our holiday to Cyprus cancelled three times and couldn’t hold out any longer," Tom explains.

“I’m fully vaccinated along with my wife... Cases are very minimal here and it’s safer here than at home - it makes no sense why it can’t be green," he adds.

"I’m not hopeful it will but if it doesn’t we will quarantine. Luckily I can work from home."

Image source, PA Media

If you're just joining us here's a quick summary of the main stories so far today:

• There is a "real opportunity" to open up foreign travel this summer for those who have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said
• The industry has been asking for fully-vaccinated people travelling from amber-list countries to be exempt from quarantining - something the government has said it is looking at
• Meanwhile, changes to England's rules on foreign travel are set to be announced later today, including to the green, amber and red travel lists
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested all EU countries should make British travellers quarantine on arrival to slow the spread of the Delta variant
• About two million people in England may have had some long-lasting symptoms after having coronavirus - sometimes known as "long Covid" - a survey suggests
• Only about a quarter of students in the UK thought they got good value for money from university during the pandemic, according to a poll.

About two million people in England may have had some long-lasting symptoms after having coronavirus - sometimes known as "long Covid" - a survey suggests.

The React study of half a million adults shows about a third of people who report they have coronavirus symptoms have one or more symptoms that persist for at least 12 weeks.

Researchers say managing the long-term consequences are a "major challenge" and the government has provided £50m for research into the condition.

You can read more on what we know about long Covid here.

Image source, PA Media

Boris Johnson says there is a "real opportunity" to open up foreign travel for those who have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

Asked about German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggesting the Delta variant means British travellers should face quarantine on arrival to all EU countries, the prime minister says: "I think that the real opportunity we all have now is to open up travel through the double jab.

"If you look at it, we've got more than 60% of our population have now had two jabs, I think 83% have had one jab, we're really getting through it now.

"The crucial thing is come forward and get your second jab."

Speaking during a visit to New Normandy Barracks in Aldershot, he adds: "I'm not going to claim that this summer, for travel purposes, is going to be like any other summer. I don't want to cast a pall over things but, as I said the other day, it will be different."

Asked whether he would be taking a holiday abroad this summer, Johnson says "my plans at this stage are at the unformed stage", adding: "I'm certainly not ruling it in or ruling it out."

Impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber and theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh have joined others in the entertainment industry to launch legal action over the publication of results from the government's Covid pilot events.

The Events and Research Programme has seen audiences allowed at events including the FA Cup Final, the Brit Awards and last weekend's Download Festival if they show proof of a negative test.

Organisers had expected the findings to be published last week, allowing them to plan ahead for the rest of the summer, but this was delayed after lockdown restrictions in England were extended.

In a statement Lord Lloyd Webber says: "We simply must now see the data that is being used to strangle our industry so unfairly.

"The government's actions are forcing theatre and music companies off a cliff as the summer wears on, whilst cherry-picking high-profile sporting events to go ahead. The situation is beyond urgent."

BBC Radio 5 Live

This morning, BBC Radio 5 Live has been talking about how isolations are affecting schools.

Department of Education figures say a quarter of a million children in England missed school last week as a result, the most-disrupted week since full reopening in March.

Glyn Potts is the head teacher at Newman RC college in Oldham. He was pinged yesterday by NHS Test and Trace and is now isolating at home.

He's told 5 Live's Rachel Burden it's affecting staff levels too and he ended up paying £11,000 on supply cover in the first half of the term.

"It's incredibly difficult for us, especially in areas where there is high absence," he says.

"Whilst I respect and understand the difficult jobs that supply teachers do, there's no replication for the class teacher that the child should have. They're the expert."

Listen to 5 Live on the free BBC Sounds app.

Gillian Laidlow, a nurse in Bristol, has been trying to visit her daughter and granddaughter, who live in Portugal, since the start of the pandemic.

She has changed her flights about four times now, with her latest trip planned for July also postponed after Portugal was moved to the amber list.

Because of her job she is unable to quarantine and can’t wait for a last minute government announcement as she can’t move her annual leave.

While Gillian says she understands the need for travel restrictions, being separated from her family has still been hard.

“My granddaughter is growing up and I’m missing it,” she tells BBC Breakfast.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Some important new statistics today from the Ministry of Justice on the enormous backlog of cases in the criminal justice system.

Crown courts ground to a standstill during the first phase of the pandemic - and about 70 courtrooms across England and Wales remain shut because they're too small to comply with social distancing rules - although more than 30 emergency "Nightingale Courts" have filled some of the gap.

The upshot though is that the Crown Court backlog hit a record in March of 59,000 cases.

The time taken to complete them has also reached new highs with victims, witnesses and defendants waiting around a year, if not more, for the wheels of justice to turn.

Those record figures, however, don't take into account some signs that things are getting better - not least thanks to emergency funding to recruit lots of extra part-time judges to work through backlogs.

The latest weekly data suggests the backlog is now down to about 57,500 cases. But the challenge for Justice Secretary Robert Buckland is to also tackle how long each case takes to reach completion.

Back to the Commons for a final time this morning, and the transport secretary has also been asked about strike action taking place by staff at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency over Covid safety at their Swansea workplace.

Tonia Antoniazzi, the Labour MP for Gower, suggests Grant Shapps "scuppered" a resolution" to the dispute involving members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, leading to more backogs for the public in dealing with the DVLA.

Shapps says it is unnecessary for the PCS union to continue the strike because £4.7m has been invested at DVLA to make it Covid-safe.

He says the demands have now switched to pay and holiday entitlements, which he says are unconnected to the reason for the original action.

You can read more about the background to the strike here.

Ongoing uncertainty over international travel restrictions means Bruno Tonioli will not be a judge for this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC has said.

Tonioli, who is based in the US, will be replaced by Anton Du Beke, the show's longest-serving professional dancer.

Du Beke says: "It's a dream come true to be judging alongside the best of the best and I promise to be kinder to all the couples than any of them have ever been to me."

The dancer previously stepped in as a temporary judge when Motsi Mabuse had to self-isolate following a trip to Germany.

Read more.

Image source, House of Commons

A "remarkable digital transformation" has been taking place in recent weeks to allow travellers to pass more quickly through airports, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says.

He was responding to a question in the House of Commons from Huw Merriman, the chairman of the Transport Select Committee, about a possible further easing of the rules for passengers who have had both vaccines.

Is Shapps confident people who have been double jabbed will be able to move through arrivals more quickly - perhaps by showing proof of their vaccination using the NHS app?

Shapps says because of the technological developments, people coming in from green list countries have been able to use electronic gates at airports in recent weeks or Border Force officers have been able to scan their passports and "automatically" see their test status.

The "whole machinery" is being linked together and the "automation is really starting to get in place now", he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Cathay Pacific has told its aircrew they must get a Covid vaccination by 31 August or risk losing their jobs.

The airline says staff rostering has become "difficult and complicated" because of a need to segregate vaccinated and non-vaccinated crew.

But it says it will "review the future employment of those who are unable to become vaccinated" and "assess whether they can continue to be employed as aircrew".

The Hong Kong-based airline says 90% of its pilots and 65% of its cabin crew have been vaccinated or have appointments to receive the jab.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

The SNP's Anum Qaisar-Javed, who represents Airdrie and Shotts in central Scotland, asks whether the government will look at additional funding to tackle the backlog of driving tests.

She cites a constituent who had to travel to Blackpool to sit his theory test and is unable to take his practical test in a timely manner.

Shapps replies: "In my own household I have two teenagers who quite literally ask me the same questions every day of the week.”

He acknowledges there is a "very large" backlog of about 440,000 tests because of the pandemic but says the DVLA has put in place a recovery plan to increase the number of tests carried out every day.

“I will personally be seeing to them keeping to track on that recovery plan because, as she says, young people need to be able to take their tests and pass," he adds.

Labour's shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon highlights a demonstration by hundreds of workers from the travel industry outside Parliament yesterday, when they called for more government support for the sector.

He asks whether the transport secretary will publish the criteria for countries being placed in either the green, amber or red list in his announcement later, as well as a country-by-country assessment, to give travellers confidence to book.

In response, Grant Shapps asks why McMahon has previously called for all countries to be put on the red list - where arrivals are required to quarantine in a hotel.

“Having a red, amber and green list enables people to see which countries are in which category," the transport secretary says, adding the Joint Biosecurity Centre also publishes data on why countries are placed in each category.

Image source, Getty Images

Back to the questions for transport ministers in the Commons - and Labour's Jeff Smith asks about the "long-term viability" of Eurostar.

Last month, the rail company secured a £250m rescue package from banks and investors amid a severe drop in demand due to the pandemic.

Transport minister Robert Courts says Eurostar should re-emerge as a highly successful and profitable company once international travel resumes.

On the question of possible UK support, Courts reiterates a previous government statement, saying ministers "will engage" with Eurostar but would expect the company's shareholders to "fully play their part".

Eurostar says it plans to focus on restoring services on its core routes between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Image source, Getty Images

The introduction of lockdown restrictions in March last year did not lead to a baby boom, new figures suggest.

Fertility rates in England and Wales for December 2020 and January 2021 showed "relatively steep decreases" compared with the same month the previous year, down by 8.1% and 10.2% respectively, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Live births in these months would have mostly been conceived in the weeks following the start of the UK's national lockdown.

However, there was a year-on-year increase in the fertility rate for March 2021 of 1.7%, which "mostly translates to live births conceived when lockdown restrictions were beginning to be eased in summer 2020", the ONS says.

The total fertility rate in England and Wales for 2021 could end up being the lowest on the record, the data suggests.

For the first three months of the year, the rate for 2021 is estimated to be 1.53 children per woman - down from 1.92 children per woman in 2011.

The total fertility rate is the average number of live children a group of women would bear if they experienced age-specific fertility rates throughout their childbearing life.

Image source, Reuters

Only about a quarter of students in the UK think they got good value for money from university during the pandemic, a survey suggests.

The poll of 10,000 students, by the Higher Education Policy Institute, found students felt their fees and living costs were not justified by the disrupted teaching they received this academic year.

"It's definitely not been value for money," says Beth Stevens, a student at Lancaster University.

She only went to one in-person class and has decided to take her first year again.

"I felt like I had imposter syndrome," she says, adding that the university year "didn't feel real".

"It was really hard to meet people," she says, and she would have much preferred to be taught in-person rather than online, where she found the teaching less effective.

Read more.