A 13-year-old girl, a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm in connection with the death of 13-year-old Olly Stephens.

The trio, all from Reading, have been remanded in custody to appear in Reading Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Two other boys, both aged 13, have been released on bail with strict conditions until 1 February.

Oliver was allegedly stabbed to death in Emmer Green, Reading on Sunday.

Anyone who has information on the incident is asked to contact police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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“This year, we’re going to put our trust in teachers, rather than algorithms,” Gavin Williamson told MPs in the Commons.

Setting out his plans for students as MPs prepared to vote on England’s latest lockdown, Mr Williamson said “schools have not suddenly become unsafe”.

His announcement comes as the government faces pressure over the schools chaos and its strategy for deploying COVID-19 vaccines.

Mr Williamson said schools will remain closed until 1 February, with pupils learning remotely from 11 January when the extended Christmas holidays end.

Vulnerable children and those whose parents are key workers can continue going to school, and nurseries and childminders can remain open.

University students are not able to return to campus but can continue learning remotely.

Announcing that GCSEs, A-levels and AS-level exams will not go ahead, Mr Williamson said: “Last year, all four nations of the United Kingdom found their arrangements for awarding grades did not deliver what they needed, with the impact felt painfully by students and their parents.

“Although exams are the fairest way we have of assessing what a student knows, the impact of this pandemic now means that it is not possible to have these exams this year.

“I can confirm that GCSEs, A-levels and AS-level exams will not go ahead this summer.”

Mr Williamson said schools in England are “much better prepared than last March” to implement home-learning and expects schools to provide between three to five hours of teaching a day.

“The last thing any education secretary wants to do is announce that schools will close, and this is not a decision that the government ever wanted to take,” he said.

Boris Johnson said on Wednesday the lifting of restrictions would be a “gradual process” and not a “big bang” – and that schools would be “the very first things to reopen”.

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“That moment may come after the February half-term, although we should remain extremely cautious about the timetable ahead,” the prime minister told MPs.

Education Select Committee chairman Robert Halfon earlier told Sky News the situation regarding schools was “a mess”.

“I think now we have to move on and make sure we have an exam system that is a level playing field for students and fair to the disadvantaged,” he said.

The Commons has been recalled from its Christmas recess to debate and retrospectively vote on the latest England lockdown set by Mr Johnson on Monday.

The other three nations are taking a similar approach, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon imposing a lockdown on Scotland for the rest of January and the closure of schools until February.

Schools and colleges will be closed in Wales until at least 18 January and move to online learning, with GCSE and A-level exams already cancelled.

In Northern Ireland, pupils will learn remotely until the mid-term break but it is unclear whether exams will go ahead.

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Boris Johnson was speaking at a Downing Street news conference on the first full day of the nation’s third lockdown, as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said one in 50 people in England have COVID-19.

Figures show the new variant is “taking off” in areas outside London and the South East, the government said.

Numbers of people with coronavirus in private households between 27 December and 2 January, according to the ONS:

• London – around one in 30
• Southeast England – around one in 45
• Eastern England – around one in 45
• Northwest England – around one in 45
• East Midlands – around one in 50
• Northeast England – around one in 60
• West Midlands – around one in 65
• Yorkshire and the Humber – around one in 65

It comes as another 60,916 people in the UK have tested positive for COVID-19 in the latest 24 hour period – the first time the daily number has exceeded 60,000.

However, mass testing was not taking place during the first peak of the pandemic so it is unclear how many cases were circulating then.

There have also been another 830 coronavirus-related deaths in the UK, government figures show. It means that a total of 76,305 people have now died within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test.

Professor Chris Whitty said coronavirus hospitalisations across England are “rising very rapidly and, of course, we are still in the middle of winter”.

England’s chief medical officer told the news conference that the fastest increase of the new variant is in the East of England, London and the South East, but it is “now taking off in other areas as well”.

Giving an update on coronavirus vaccinations, Mr Johnson said 1.1 million people in England have had a jab, with a total of 1.3 million across the UK.

In all, 650,000 people aged over 80 – 23% of all over-80s in England – have been vaccinated so far.

He said: “By February 15th, the NHS is committed to offering a vaccination to everyone in the top four priority groups including older care home residents and staff, everyone over 70, all frontline NHS and care staff and all those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

“And to help us with meeting this target we already have 595 GP-led sites providing vaccines, with a further 180 coming on stream later this week. We have 107 hospital sites – with a further 100 later this week.”

Mr Johnson added: “Next week we will also have seven vaccination centres opening in places such as sports stadia and exhibition centres.”

The latest shutdown to try to control the spread of COVID-19 was announced yesterday.

The prime minister said he believes that by the middle of February there will be a prospect of relaxing some of the measures – but he warned there are “lots of caveats built into this”.

Earlier, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove told Sky News the government “should be able” to begin easing England’s coronavirus lockdown in March.

He said the public should not expect a sudden relaxation of the COVID-19 rules, with restrictions “progressively” eased instead.

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The government “should be able” to begin easing England’s coronavirus lockdown in March, a senior minister has told Sky News.

Michael Gove said the public should not expect a sudden relaxation of the COVID-19 rules, with restrictions “progressively” relaxed instead.

“The government is doing everything it can in order to ensure that we can roll out the vaccine more rapidly, help the vulnerable by getting the inoculations they need, and make sure that at the end of what will inevitably be very, very difficult weeks, that life can eventually return to normal,” he said.

As coronavirus vaccines continue to be rolled out, the country is in a “race against time” against a new, more transmissible variant of the disease, Mr Gove added.

Asked how long the lockdown could last, the Cabinet Office minister said ministers would “review the progress that we’ve made” on 15 February.

He added: “We hope that we will be able to progressively lift restrictions after that but what I can’t do is predict – nobody can predict – with accuracy exactly what we will be able to relax and when.

“What we do know is that the more effective our vaccination programme, the more people who are protected in that way, the easier it will be to lift these restrictions.”

Pressed again on a timeframe for easing restrictions, Mr Gove said: “I think it’s right to say that as we enter March we should be able to lift some of these restrictions, but not necessarily all.”

He was speaking after Boris Johnson introduced a third national lockdown in England, with people told to “stay at home” as they did during last March’s first shutdown.

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The prime minister revealed the action in an eight-minute TV address on Monday night, after being told that COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly in every part of the country due to the new coronavirus variant.

The public are being asked to follow the new rules, which have now replaced England’s tiers system, immediately.

It is expected the new lockdown in England – the third time a national shutdown has been introduced – will last until the middle of February.

Mr Johnson expressed his hope that, at this point, nearly 14 million people will have all been offered the first dose of a vaccine.

From now, people across the whole country must now stay at home apart from five exceptions:

• for work, if people cannot work from home, such as those in the construction sector or key workers
• to shop for necessities such as food or medicines
• to exercise once per day at a local location. This can include with one other person from outside someone’s household or support/childcare bubble
• to provide care or help to vulnerable people
• to attend medical appointments, get medical care or a coronavirus test, or to flee the threat of harm or violence.

All primary schools, secondary schools and colleges will move to online learning from Tuesday.

Schools will remain closed for all pupils, apart from the children of key workers or those who are vulnerable, until the February half-term.

However, nurseries can remain open while childcare and support bubbles will stay in place.

With his announcement of schools’ closure coming just a day after he urged parents to send their children back to classrooms, Mr Johnson acknowledged the “inconvenience and distress” to pupils and parents.

But he defended not acting sooner – with some schools having now reopened after their Christmas holidays for just one day – by saying ministers had “been doing everything in our power to keep schools open” until this point.

Mr Johnson said the government would work with the exams regulator to put in place “alternative arrangements”, as he admitted the new lockdown means “it is not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal”.

Students will not be able to return to universities and will be expected to study from their current residence, where possible, until mid-February.

Pubs, restaurants and cafes will be able to continue takeaway or click and collect services, but the sale of takeaway alcohol will no longer be allowed.

Essential shops, garden centres and places of worship can remain open but zoos and sports facilities – including golf courses, swimming pools and tennis courts – must close.

Elite sports – such as Premier League football – will continue, as will PE lessons for those children still attending school.

Shielding will resume for those who are judged to be clinically vulnerable, with those groups being urged to stay at home as much as possible and not go to work even if they can’t work from home.

They should only go outside for exercise or to attend health appointments.

Mr Johnson said the new coronavirus variant, judged to be between 50% and 70% more transmissible, was spreading at a “frustrating and alarming” speed.

The prime minister warned this means “you are much, much more likely to catch the virus and pass it on”.

“As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from COVID than at any time since the start of the pandemic,” he added.

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As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID patients in hospital in England – an increase of over 30% in one week and now more than 40% higher than the peak of the first wave of coronavirus infections last April.

There has also been a near 25% increase in the number of deaths in the past seven days, compared to the previous week.

But, despite the rising figures, the prime minister hailed COVID vaccines as “one huge difference” compared to England’s first lockdown last spring.

He outlined plans to offer a first vaccine dose to all care home residents, over-70s, all frontline health and social care workers, and everyone who is extremely vulnerable by the middle of next month.

“If we succeed in vaccinating all those groups, we will have removed huge numbers of people from the path of the virus,” he said.

“And of course, that will eventually enable us to lift many of the restrictions we have endured for so long.”

The minister for vaccine deployment, Nadhim Zahawi, later tweeted the government’s aim was to administer 13.9 million doses by mid-February.

In a call for national unity, Mr Johnson said people “now more than ever, must pull together”.

“The weeks ahead will be the hardest yet but I really do believe that we are entering the last phase of the struggle,” he added.

The prime minister’s announcement came after the UK’s COVID alert level was raised from Level 4 to Level 5, the highest possible, for the first time.

In a stark warning, the UK’s chief medical officers said there was a “material risk of the NHS in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days” without further action.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had earlier announced a nationwide lockdown would be introduced in Scotland from midnight tonight.

And the Welsh government announced that all schools and colleges will move to online learning until 18 January.

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster – who imposed a six-week lockdown in Northern Ireland from Boxing Day – said on Monday night the “stay at home” instruction would now be put back into law, with an update on schools to come on Tuesday.

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The UK recorded 58,784 new coronavirus cases on Monday – the highest daily total since the start of the pandemic.

It is the seventh day in a row that there have been more than 50,000 daily cases, while government figures also showed there have been 407 more deaths in the past 24 hours.

The new lockdown restrictions will become law in the early hours of Wednesday morning, although the public is being urged to abide by them from now.

As they did in the spring of last year, police will have powers to enforce the new lockdown with fines and dispersal orders.

The House of Commons will be recalled from its current recess to sit on Wednesday, so MPs can hear a statement from Mr Johnson and to vote on the new lockdown restrictions.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party would support the “necessary” lockdown.

“Whatever quarrels or challenges I have with the government, with the prime minister, in a sense tonight the really important thing is to say we support these measures,” he told Sky News.

“We’re all under a duty, I think, to do whatever we can to make them work.”

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons’ Speaker, urged MPs to stay away from Westminster “unless absolutely necessary” and to take part in Wednesday’s debate virtually.

New polling published by YouGov on Monday suggested 79% of Britons are supportive of another lockdown for the UK, compared to 16% who are against a fresh nationwide shutdown.

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A nationwide lockdown will be introduced in Scotland from midnight tonight, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The first minister told the Scottish Parliament there will be a legal requirement for people to stay at home for the rest of January, with schools remaining closed to most pupils until the start of February at the earliest.

“It is no exaggeration to say that I am more concerned about the situation we face now than I have been at any time since March last year,” Ms Sturgeon said.

She said the increased transmissibility of a new COVID-19 variant first identified in the UK means that Scotland’s current Level 4 restrictions may not be enough to bring the R number back below 1.

“It is essential that we further limit interaction between different households to stem the spread and bring the situation back under control, while we vaccinate more people,” the first minister said.

“In short, we must return for a period to a situation much closer to the lockdown of last March.”

Failing to act further could see the NHS in Scotland overrun with coronavirus patients within “three or four weeks”, Ms Sturgeon added.

“We have an opportunity in Scotland to avert the situation here deteriorating to that extent,” the first minister told MSPs.

“But we must act quickly.”

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A murder investigation has been launched after a 13-year-old boy was stabbed to death.

Thames Valley Police were called to reports of a knife attack in Bugs Bottom fields in the Emmer Green area of Reading at around 3.50pm on Sunday.

The teenager died of his injuries at the scene. His family have been told and are being supported, however no formal identification has yet taken place.

No arrests have yet been made.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, head of Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit, said: “This is a fast-moving and dynamic investigation, which is ongoing.

“We are in the very early stages of this investigation, but we believe that the victim was attacked by two or three males, who made off after the incident in the direction of Hunters Chase.

“There will be a very considerable police presence in the area of St Barnabas Road and Gravel Hill for a number of days, and we have a very large scene-watch in place.”

The public are being urged to contact the police with any information.

Local policing area commander for Reading, Superintendent Nick John, added: “I would like to re-assure the community that we are leaving no stone unturned in this investigation and we have deployed a large number of police officers and staff to the area.”

Anyone with information about the incident can call the 24-hour number 101, quoting incident reference 1069 of January 3.

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The prime minister said the government hoped to give up to two million doses a week as it tries to get the country’s COVID-19 epidemic under control.

Live updates on coronavirus from UK and around world

On Monday, there will be 530,000 doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine at around 540 GP vaccination sites and 101 hospital sites, he said.

It is being rolled out across the country from tomorrow and the UK has a total of 100 million doses on order.

The vaccine can be stored at normal fridge temperature and experts say it is “much easier” to administer when compared with the jab from Pfizer/BioNTech, which needs cold storage of around -70C.

More than a million people have already been given a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine since it was approved early in December.

“There are a few million more Pfizer (vaccines) still to be used,” Mr Johnson added, saying that both vaccines are being rolled out “as fast as we can”.

He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme: “We have the prospect of vaccines coming down the track in their tens of millions”. But he warned it is a “very bumpy period right now” due to rising coronavirus infections and tough restrictions.

Mr Johnson said a mass vaccine programme was the way out of the tiering system.

He said: “What we are doing now is using the tiering system, which is a very tough system… and, alas, probably about to get tougher to keep things under control. But, we will review it.”

And he said it was “absurd” that retired doctors were being asked to go through “pointless bureaucracy” to sign up as vaccine volunteers.

There have been reports of potential volunteers being deterred by additional training and forms about “deradicalisation measures” and “fire drills”.

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Second doses will take place within 12 weeks of the first – rather than the 21 days initially planned – in an effort to maximise coverage and expand the number of people getting the first vaccination.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam defended the government’s change in guidance.

He told the Mail on Sunday: “The evidence clearly shows vaccinated individuals get almost complete protection after the first dose. Simply put, every time we vaccinate someone a second time, we are not vaccinating someone else for the first time.

“It means we are missing an opportunity to greatly reduce the chances of the most vulnerable people getting severely ill from COVID-19.”

The UK’s chief medical officers, including England’s Professor Chris Whitty, have warned vaccine supply shortages could last “several months” and have backed the move to delay second doses.

They said: “Currently the main barrier to this is vaccine availability, a global issue, and this will remain the case for several months and, importantly, through the critical winter period. Vaccine shortage is a reality that cannot be wished away.”

And last month, Professor Van-Tam said a shortage of “fill and finish” materials needed to produce and package vaccines could slow down the national rollout.

At a Downing Street news conference, he said: “Many of you know already that it’s not just about vaccine manufacture. It’s about fill and finish, which is a critically short resource across the globe.”

One of the first hospitals to get the Oxford vaccine on Saturday morning was the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, part of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Dr George Findlay, chief medical officer and deputy chief executive at the trust, said: “We started vaccinating on our other hospital site a few weeks ago. It has been seen as a really positive step, something that gives staff more confidence to come to work.

“You only have to look at the statistics over the last 10 months about how many staff have suffered illness, or sadly lost their lives.

“This gives staff the confidence to come to work to be able to look after patients.”

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Some 530,000 doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine will be available across the UK from Monday.

At first, only a small number of hospital will distribute the vaccine but after a few days, most of the doses will be sent to hundreds of GP-led services.

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There are already more than 700 of these sites, according to NHS England, but hundreds more at hospitals and led by GPs are due to launch this week.

One of the first hospitals to get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Saturday morning was the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, part of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Dr George Findlay, chief medical officer and deputy chief executive at the trust, said the vaccination programme gives NHS staff “more confidence” coming into work.

“We started vaccinating on our other hospital site a few weeks ago. It has been seen as a really positive step, something that gives staff more confidence to come to work,” he said.

“You only have to look at the statistics over the last 10 months about how many staff have suffered illness, or sadly lost their lives.

“This gives staff the confidence to come to work to be able to look after patients.”

It comes around a month after the approval of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which has been given to more than one million people in the UK.

Second doses will take place within 12 weeks of the first – rather than the 21 days initially planned – in an effort to maximise coverage.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We know there are challenges still ahead of us over the coming weeks and months, but I’m confident this is the year we will defeat coronavirus and start building back better.”

On Saturday the UK recorded another 57,725 coronavirus cases – its highest daily total. Also, 445 people died within 28 days of testing positive.

Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) has said it does not recommend mixing coronavirus vaccines from different suppliers amid fears over the possible shortages.

Both the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine require two doses.

The UK government had issued guidance telling NHS medics that if a person who has received their first coronavirus jab goes back for their second but the same type is not available, or the first vaccine type is unknown, then it is “reasonable” to offer a dose of another vaccine.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisations at PHE, has since told Sky News that mixing is not recommended and should only happen on “rare occasions”.

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Public Health England (PHE) has said it does not recommend mixing COVID-19 vaccines from different suppliers.

The warning comes as distribution of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is due to start in the UK next week, the second roll-out following the launch of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in December, with both requiring two doses.

On New Year’s Eve, the UK government issued guidance to NHS medics saying that if a person who has received their first jab goes back for their second but the same type is not available, or the first vaccine type is unknown, then it is “reasonable” to offer a dose of another vaccine.

“This option is preferred if the individual is likely to be at immediate high risk or is considered unlikely to attend again,” the guidance adds.

After questions were raised about the risks, Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisations at PHE, told Sky News that mixing is not recommended and should only happen on “rare occasions”.

“We do not recommend mixing the COVID-19 vaccines – if your first dose is the Pfizer vaccine you should not be given the AstraZeneca vaccine for your second dose and vice versa,” she said.

“There may be extremely rare occasions where the same vaccine is not available, or where it is not known what vaccine the patient received.

“Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but where this is not possible it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all.”

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