Britain wants to retain the capability to spot new coronavirus variants but it must stop spending so heavily on free testing as cases and fatalities fall, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Johnson will set out plans this week for the country to “live with Covid” amid suggestions that free coronavirus testing could be stopped, and some health studies halted.

Asked by the BBC how the country would spot the arrival of new variants, Johnson said: “I want to make sure that we have capability to spot stuff and to snap back up as fast as we need to.

“We need resilience ... but for instance, on testing. We don't need to keep spending at a rate of two billion pounds a month, which is what we were doing in January.”