Vaccine Deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi hinted that support bubbles could be scrapped in future tougher lockdown measures.
Mr Zahawi appeared on Good Morning Britain today to speak about the opening of the new vaccination centres and the pandemic in general.
But during the course of the interview host Susanna Reid asked the minister about support bubbles and he could not confirm they wouldn't be scrapped.
A support bubble is where a household with one adult joins with another household (on an exclusive basis). Households within a bubble can still visit each other, stay overnight, and visit public places together.
Susanna said: "Can you promise that support bubbles won't be scrapped?"
Mr Zahawi said: "We don't want to go tougher but we review everything because ultimately this new variant is much more infectious.
"The viral load as the scientists call it is much greater."
Piers Morgan butted in and said: " Truth is isn't it Mr Zahawi you can't make any guarantees like that you can't guarantee there won't be tougher restrictions because you may need to do them and I think the time is long past where the government needs to stop making promises it can't potentially keep, it's better to stick to reality and the reality is that just don't know do you."
Mr Zahawi agreed with Piers and said: "Well look Piers you're right, we need to review everything because we've got to make sure we get this new variant under control because we need to vaccinate the most vulnerable people."
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The minister's comments come as speculation grows that tougher measures could be on the way.
Yesterday pressed on possible restrictions, Mr Hancock told the BBC: "I don't want to speculate because the most important message is not whether the Government will further strengthen the rules.
"The most important thing is that people stay at home and follow the rules that we have got.
"And that, in terms of the scale of the impact on the cases, that is the most important thing we can do collectively as a society."
Other rules that are said to be being considered are curfews, nurseries being closed, support bubbles being banned, face masks being made compulsory in all busy outdoor areas and exercise limited to one hour.
*GMB continues at 6am on ITV tomorrow
