UK government warns no guarantees Christmas is safe

A last-minute change in household mixing rules could throw plans into chaos

About a third of Cabinet members are said to be reluctant to support new restrictions, with PM Boris Johnson, above, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak among them. Photo: PA

Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron

Millions of Britons have been warned Christmas is not safe from further restrictions as ministers refuse to rule out a limit on household mixing to ease the rapid spread of Omicron.

Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, said people would have a “much better Christmas than last year” because of the high rate of adults who are vaccinated and the swift moving booster campaign.

However, he stopped short of ruling out more restrictions.

“I do think of course, you have heard it from the Health Secretary over the weekend, I’d echo that, people will need to be careful and cautious," he told Sky News.

“I do think that again, subject to the data, and it’s always under review, we’re in a better position to enjoy Christmas with loved ones this year.”

Asked to specifically rule out further restrictions between now and Christmas, Mr Raab said: “Well, I just can’t make hard and fast guarantees.”

“A lot of the modelling which is being thrown around is the worst-case scenario which, of course, we are duty-bound to consider,” he added.

“But we ultimately come back to this point: you have to test the data in real time against real cases and see that lag between the spread of cases, hospitalisations and what does it mean for severity in terms of, tragically, the number of deaths.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Raab said people should exercise "common sense caution" when deciding who to mix but refused to say whether people should expect more restrictions.

“I’m not going to trail things where decisions haven’t been made," he added.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to chair a Cabinet meeting this afternoon which will be attended by Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, to discuss whether to tighten restrictions before the busy festive season.

A Downing Street press conference is expected to take place later on Monday.

New restrictions in other European countries including Belgium and Germany have prompted mass protests.

Over the weekend, Mr Johnson is understood to have been presented with three options aimed at curbing the spread of the new variant as infections surged.

The plans reported by The Telegraph range from guidance urging people to limit indoor contacts, to rules on household mixing, social distancing and an 8pm curfew for pubs and restaurants. The third and most drastic option would be another full lockdown.

But about a third of Cabinet members are said to be reluctant to support new restrictions over the coming days, with Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak among them, The Times reported.

The newspaper said that 10 ministers had been resisting a call made by the government’s chief scientific adviser, Dr Patrick Vallance, at the weekend for new restrictions as soon as possible to prevent the National Health Service becoming overwhelmed.

The Daily Telegraph quoted one unidentified Cabinet minister as saying data presented by Dr Vallance and England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, on Saturday was “just trashed by the Cabinet”.

The source said “guidelines, rather than restrictions, are entirely possible”.

Mr Raab refused to be drawn on the reports, instead saying it is right for all ministers to question the scientific advice laid out to them and Cabinet members test scientific modelling “rigorously and very carefully”.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Raab said people should exercise "common sense caution" when deciding who to mix with but refused to say whether people should expect more restrictions.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it was time to be “more cautious” and did not rule out new measures before Christmas, telling the BBC that there were “no guarantees in this pandemic”.

Mr Javid said that if new rules were to be proposed, Parliament would be recalled to approve them, describing that as “only right and proper”.

On Sunday, the number of Omicron infections in the UK shot up to 37,101 and the death toll was 12. There are 85 people in hospital who have tested positive for the strain.

Mr Raab said a large proportion of those in hospital are unvaccinated.

He said the latest data shows that Omicron is doubling every two-three days.

Overall, there were 82,886 new Covid cases detected and 45 fatalities within 28 days of a positive test.

On Sunday, the UK government set a record for the most booster vaccines given in a single day, when 904,598 shots were administered.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that if restrictions were not brought in soon, the NHS could be “on the verge of collapse”, with sickness affecting workforce levels.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government is “more concerned” with managing the problems in the Conservative party than addressing the Omicron spread.

“What the public want is a prime minister with a plan and a grip,” he told Sky News.

“And the question on my lips and I think the public’s lips this morning is where is the prime minister.”

“I think this obsession with party management rather than public health is the wrong priority at the wrong time,” he added.

“There’s a vacuum of leadership at the moment, infighting is going on in the Tory party when the focus should really be on the public interest and public health.”

He said Labour stands ready to support further measures to ease the spread of Omicron and called on Mr Johnson to table a new plan.

He called on Mr Johnson to meet leaders of the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and put together a “strong plan including the necessary support” for businesses.

“I think people are crying out for some leadership and we need to say to the prime minister, where are you, come up with a plan, don’t hint at restrictions,” he added.

However, he declined to say if he thought the current restrictions would be enough to slow down the spread of Omicron over the Christmas period.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has called on former teachers to help with staff shortages in the new year, while head teachers’ unions have warned of possible disruption to classroom lessons.

Meanwhile, the Treasury announced on Sunday that funding to tackle Covid-19 across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had been doubled to a total of £860 million ($1.13 billion).

Mr Sunak said the boost, which followed an increase in demands from the three nations for more cash, was to ensure people were supported “in the face of this serious health crisis”.

Advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, or Sage, published at the weekend, said there were probably already hundreds of thousands of new Omicron infections every day in England.

It said that hospital admissions with the variant in the UK were “probably around one tenth of the true number” because of a lag in reporting.

England’s chief nursing officer, Ruth May, has urged a “final festive booster bounce” for the vaccine programme, telling people there was “no room for complacency” and to book their slots, which included Christmas Day.

Although the booster vaccination rate is rising, about one million shots a day are needed if every adult is to be offered a third shot by the end of the year.

Experts have warned against a delay in bringing in measures.

Prof Stephen Reicher, a member of Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours, said Omicron’s faster transmissibility means it is “coming at us like an express train”, and called for clear messaging to the public.

“A good clear message is more important now than ever before of how serious the crisis is," Prof Reicher told BBC News.

“Good information from the government, combined with good support from the government” would probably lead to people accepting “the measures that are necessary to bring this thing under control", he said.