How quickly

is lockdown be eased after the most vulnerable have been vaccinated?

Some senior Conservatives believe as quickly as possible.

I think once you've vaccinated certainly the top nine groups and you've reduced 99% of the risk of death and you've reduced the level of hospitalisation by 80%,

you'd struggle to make an argument for having any restrictions in place at all.

Welcome to Payne's politics, your essential insider guide to what's happening in British

politics from the Financial Times, with me Sebastian Payne.

In this week's episode, we'll be looking at how the Johnson government plans to

end lockdown after the first rounds of vaccinations are complete in the middle of February.

When will schools, shops and leisure facilities open again?

Joining me to discuss is special guest Mark Harper,

the Conservative MP and chair of the COVID Recovery Group.

And later I'll be looking at Scotland and why Boris Johnson made a trip north of the

border this week to do his bit to talk of the Union but is it really in trouble?

Our Scotland correspondent Muadiki joins us along with special guest Nicola McEwen from the University of

Edinburgh.

Let's dive straight into the main topic of the week.

The UK hit an appalling milestone this week in its battle against coronavirus, 100,000 deaths.

There's been much reflection on why the state and the government let the death toe rise

so high, especially as 60,000 of those deaths occurred since November.

Boris Johnson has personally apologized and says he takes full responsibility.

But the Prime Minister was eager to put forward some better news, setting out a roadmap for exiting lockdown.

...