Wretched year to give way to incomparably better spring, says UK's Johnson

A wretched year will give way to a much better spring and summer, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday as he set out the government's plans to ease lockdown measures.

"The vaccination programme has dramatically changed the odds in our favour," he told parliament.

"Today the end really is in sight...and a wretched year will give way to a spring and a summer that will be very different and incomparably better than the picture we see around us today."