Rishi Sunak breaks away from Boris Johnson and says he will self-isolate

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has withdrawn from a “get out of jail free” Covid scheme, after plans for him and Boris Johnson to use it to avoid self-isolation sparked outrage.

Number 10 announced this morning that both the prime minister and Mr Sunak would take advantage of a controversial daily pilot scheme to avoid the need for 10 days’ quarantine after being “pinged” as contacts of Covid-positive health secretary Sajid Javid.

The decision - at a time when hundreds of thousands are off work after being identified as potential contacts - prompted a furious reaction, with Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner saying it “takes the p***” and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey describing it as a case of “one rule for us and another rule for them”.

And as the wave of fury swelled, Mr Sunak dramatically U-turned, saying in a tweet: “Whilst the test and trace pilot is fairly restrictive, allowing only essential government business, I recognise that even the sense that the rules aren’t the same for everyone is wrong.

“To that end I’ll be self isolating as normal and not taking part in the pilot.”