Closing summary
-
The prime minister has confirmed no further Covid restrictions will be put in place in England before Christmas. He said there was currently not enough evidence to justify tougher measures before Christmas but curbs could be imposed after 25 December.
- A bailout package worth about £1bn for businesses losing trade because of the Omicron surge was announced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on Tuesday. The funding will primarily help firms in the leisure and hospitality sector, and follows concerns that they have faced cancelled bookings.
- The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said Labour “will be going through the details” of the new measures for businesses, adding the government had been “dragged kicking and screaming” to announce them.
- Representatives of businesses that run nightclubs, music venues and events have responded to Rishi Sunak’s support package calling it “inadequate”. Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said newly-announced support for the culture sector was “far too little” and “borders on the insulting”.
- Scotland’s Hogmanay street parties are cancelled, while sporting events will be spectator-free for the next three weeks, Nicola Sturgeon announced, while reassuring the Scottish public they will not have to change their Christmas Day plans.
- All sporting events in Wales will be held behind closed doors from Boxing Day due to the surge in coronavirus cases, the Welsh government has announced. The economy minister, Vaughan Gething, announced the new measures for both indoor and outdoor sporting events.
- Scientists have reacted with dismay to Boris Johnson’s decision not to impose fresh restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron, emphasising that waiting until the new year would “almost certainly be too late to have a material impact on the epidemic”.
- A top scientist has said we “cannot afford to cross our fingers and hope this crisis blows over”. Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, said in a statement: “As we have learned from the very beginning of this pandemic, it’s better to act sooner than later.”
- The effect that lockdowns have on people’s lives is as bad as going to hospital, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned amid the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
- The UK government borrowed £17.4bn in November, outstripping economists’ predictions and suggesting debt could far overshoot officials’ forecasts if the Omicron coronavirus variant slows the economy as expected.
- The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has tested positive for Covid, he has announced on Twitter. He said he fell ill after returning from London last week.
- A total of 897,979 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Monday, new figures show. The is the second highest figure on record, behind 940,606 doses on Saturday 18 December.
- A further 90,629 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Tuesday, the government said. The government said a further 172 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
That is all for today from the UK blog but do join me as I continue our Covid coverage on our global live blog below:
Updated
With no further Covid restrictions expected before Christmas, the focus is now turning to whether the prime minister will instead impose restrictions in the run-up to new year.
The Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar reports ministers are considering bringing in a “circuit breaker” lockdown lasting between two weeks and a month from 27 December.
As we’ve reported, new ‘circuit breaker’ restrictions expected after Christmas.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) December 21, 2021
PM: “Naturally we can’t rule out any further measures after Christmas - and... we’ll do whatever it takes to protect public health.” https://t.co/xZGYOjCbms
From the Financial Times’ Jim Pickard:
not sure why the Boris Johnson comments about no restrictions *before* Christmas Day are surprising to anyone, the question has been - for a long time - whether they'll do a clampdown a few days later
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) December 21, 2021
Rishi Sunak has been accused of failing to do enough to help embattled hospitality businesses through the Omicron wave after refusing to bring back furlough for the hardest-hit firms.
Succumbing to intense pressure to offer financial support amid a collapse in pre-Christmas trade for pubs, restaurants and hotels, the chancellor announced a £1bn bailout package on Tuesday consisting of business grants and help with sick pay.
However, it drew an angry response from bosses who told Sunak he was failing to grasp the severity of the Omicron shock to the economy and that a lack of clarity from the government over the need for further pandemic restrictions was making matters worse.
Comparing the plan to a “dud cracker on Christmas Day”, Tim Rumney, the chief executive of the Best Western hotel chain, which employs 10,000 staff in the UK, said a return to furlough was vital if the current Covid wave continues.
“It’s just so disappointing and underwhelming in every sense. It doesn’t go far enough in our opinion, it doesn’t go deep enough and it’s too little too late,” he said.
Read the full article here:
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has criticised Boris Johnson’s “dither and delay” approach to Christmas plans.
I hope everyone will have the best Christmas they can.
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) December 21, 2021
But lurching from announcement to announcement isn't governing. The job of Government is to plan and prepare, not dither and delay.
Boris Johnson doesn't have a grip and our country is paying the price. https://t.co/fktq0LjlFI
Sky News’ Tamara Cohen reports that during yesterday’s two-hour cabinet meeting, chancellor Rishi Sunak was among those ministers most opposed to bringing in new measures.
The PM did not put a specific proposal to cabinet y’day eg banning indoor mixing.
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) December 21, 2021
But the chancellor, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, transport secretary Grant Shapps and Alister Jack were, I was told, most opposed to restrictions.
Javid, Gove and Nadine Dorries in favour.
Evening summary
Here’s a roundup of the key events from today:
-
The prime minister has confirmed no further Covid restrictions will be put in place in England before Christmas. He said there was currently not enough evidence to justify tougher measures before Christmas but curbs could be imposed after 25 December.
- A bailout package worth about £1bn for businesses losing trade because of the Omicron surge was announced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on Tuesday. The funding will primarily help firms in the leisure and hospitality sector, and follows concerns that they have faced cancelled bookings.
- The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said Labour “will be going through the details” of the new measures for businesses, adding the government had been “dragged kicking and screaming” to announce them.
- Representatives of businesses that run nightclubs, music venues and events have responded to Rishi Sunak’s support package calling it “inadequate”. Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said newly-announced support for the culture sector was “far too little” and “borders on the insulting”.
- Scotland’s Hogmanay street parties are cancelled, while sporting events will be spectator-free for the next three weeks, Nicola Sturgeon announced, while reassuring the Scottish public they will not have to change their Christmas Day plans.
- All sporting events in Wales will be held behind closed doors from Boxing Day due to the surge in coronavirus cases, the Welsh government has announced. The economy minister, Vaughan Gething, announced the new measures for both indoor and outdoor sporting events.
- Scientists have reacted with dismay to Boris Johnson’s decision not to impose fresh restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron, emphasising that waiting until the new year would “almost certainly be too late to have a material impact on the epidemic”.
- A top scientist has said we “cannot afford to cross our fingers and hope this crisis blows over”. Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, said in a statement: “As we have learned from the very beginning of this pandemic, it’s better to act sooner than later.”
- The effect that lockdowns have on people’s lives is as bad as going to hospital, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned amid the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
- The UK government borrowed £17.4bn in November, outstripping economists’ predictions and suggesting debt could far overshoot officials’ forecasts if the Omicron coronavirus variant slows the economy as expected.
- The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has tested positive for Covid, he has announced on Twitter. He said he fell ill after returning from London last week.
- A total of 897,979 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Monday, new figures show. The is the second highest figure on record, behind 940,606 doses on Saturday 18 December.
- A further 90,629 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Tuesday, the government said. The government said a further 172 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
I’m signing off for the day now. Thanks so much for joining me today and for all your comments and tweets.
No further Covid restrictions before Christmas, Boris Johnson confirms
The prime minister has confirmed no further Covid restrictions will be put in place in England before Christmas.
He said there was currently not enough evidence on the severity of Omicron, the hospitalisation rate and the impact of the booster programme to justify tougher measures before Christmas.
However, No 10 say the prime minister is clear the situation is “finely balanced and remains difficult across the country”, with the Omicron variant continuing to surge and cases at an all-time high.
The government has said it will continue to monitor the data closely and will not hesitate to act after Christmas if necessary.
In a video message released on Tuesday afternoon, the prime minister urged people to exercise caution and to continue to follow the guidance, including by wearing a mask indoors when required, keeping fresh air circulating and taking a test when visiting vulnerable and elderly relatives. He also urged everyone yet to do so to get a booster of the Covid vaccine.
I wanted to confirm that people can go ahead with their Christmas plans.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 21, 2021
But we’re keeping a constant eye on the data and can’t rule out any further measures after Christmas.
Please continue to be cautious, follow the guidance and Get Boosted Now: https://t.co/VKGvuQ4lzq pic.twitter.com/506RPwP94h
Updated
People will be asking “why should we bloody well listen now” if the government tries to implement new Covid restrictions, a Conservative MP has said.
But while Sir Roger Gale warned of a potential public “backlash”, he also stressed it would be “dangerous” to ignore the scientific advice, and raised concerns that the government may be “missing the boat” on implementing further public health measures in response to rising Covid rates.
Meanwhile the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, the Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, said she believed people would accept more public health measures, but that it was “outrageous” the government did not hold a press conference and lay out the latest data on Monday because people needed the information to make decisions.
I’m not averse to further measures based upon sound science. My worry is that we may be once again missing the boat because of the pressure the prime minister has been put under by his own backbench and as a result in part of course of his own folly, and that he may be reluctant to take action that is actually necessary.
The Conservative MP for North Thanet stressed the need for adequate support for business and said without formal restrictions the hospitality industry is “between a rock and a hard place”.
Gale told the PA news agency:
I have been highly critical of many things that the government and the prime minister have done, but I wouldn’t wish to stop them doing the right things now.
I think – there’s no doubt about this – there is a public reaction against being told what to do simply because, and I’m afraid this is true, people feel the government didn’t do themselves what they told us to do last time so why should we bloody well listen now.
And I think there will be, if they were to try to do much before Christmas, I think there would be one hell of a backlash, and people would just say get stuffed I’m afraid – dangerous though that certainly would be.
There’s no doubt the infection rates are rising alarmingly and there’s no doubt in my mind that fairly soon the health service is going to have even more real problems than it’s got now.
Responding to rumours of some kind of circuit-breaker akin to a brief lockdown after Christmas, Moran said it would be “absolutely devastating for the country” and a sign of “government failure” to take the appropriate measures earlier, but she said she would back measures suggested by the scientific advisers to save lives.
Updated
The only thing that could ease the threat to the NHS is a short circuit breaker to limit indoor social interaction, Christina Pagel, director of UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit has said in an opinion piece for the Guardian.
She writes:
The risks to the NHS come from three sides. First, Omicron has grown faster than any variant seen to date – including the original spread of Covid-19 in March 2020. The UK Health Security Agency reports that cases of Omicron have been doubling every two days in most regions of the UK. A certain percentage of newly infected people will need hospital treatment – even if Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta. Let’s say that the risk of hospitalisation with Omicron is half that of Delta, although the analysis from Imperial College London suggests this may be optimistic. With a variant that is doubling every two days that gives us only a two-day advantage. Whatever the eventual percentage of people with Omicron who will need NHS care, the absolute number seeking care will also double every two days.
Because it takes seven to 14 days from infection to needing hospital, this rapid increase in demand for NHS services will not be seen immediately – probably not until after Christmas – but it will happen. Modelling by the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group – which reports to the Sage committee – suggests that by the time we see this impact, four doublings may have passed. This means much higher levels of pressure on the NHS which we can’t do anything about if we wait for hospitalisations to rise before we act.
Last Thursday, Sage estimated that without reducing transmission further (over and above plan B), there will be at least 3,000 daily admissions to hospital in England (equivalent to the first wave in 2020), and it could be much worse even than last January. So the question is not whether it will be bad for the NHS, but whether it will be just dreadful or catastrophic.
Read more here:
Updated
There have been 15,363 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 reported across the UK, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
This brings the total confirmed cases of the variant in the UK to 60,508.
UK records 90,629 new daily cases
A further 90,629 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Tuesday, the government said.
The government said a further 172 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 173,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
A total of 51,537,827 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been delivered in the UK by December 20. This is a rise of 39,793 on the previous day.
Some 47,102,814 second doses have been delivered, an increase of 50,938.
A combined total of 29,876,223 booster and third doses have also been given, a day-on-day rise of 897,979. Separate totals for booster and third doses are not available.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs on Tuesday afternoon that, while her core advice remained to limit socialising, additional protections were necessary including all outdoor events limited to just 500 people, and indoor events including concerts limited to 200 people seated, or 100 standing, with one-metre physical distancing required for any events still going ahead.
The new rules will hit the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers on 2 January and large-scale Hogmanay street parties: Edinburgh’s was planned to proceed at a reduced capacity of 30,000.
Updated
A total of 897,979 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Monday, new figures show. The is the second highest figure on record, behind 940,606 doses on Saturday 18 December.
More than 29.8m booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK, with 5.8m in the past seven days.
The figures have been published by the UK’s four health agencies.
Updated
The coming weeks “paint a very bleak picture” for exhausted nursing staff as coronavirus infections increase, a union has said.
The Royal College of Nursing said nurses are “already physically and emotionally exhausted” by the pandemic but staff shortages due to Covid-19 mean they are now wondering “What is coming?”
London’s biggest health trust, Barts Health NHS trust also warned that some of its operations may need to be cancelled in the new year due to rising coronavirus cases and staff absences.
A spokesman for the trust said services are running as normal, but a contingency plan has been put in place in case staff need to be redeployed. Alistair Chesser, group chief medical officer, said: “Our hospitals are currently running as usual, but we have plans in place to redeploy staff in the coming weeks, should we need to.
“We are only able to respond to this next challenge because of our dedicated staff who are prepared to do all they can to care for our patients, with many taking on extra shifts.”
Horace Trubridge, general secretary of the Musicians’ Union, called for further support for performers.
He said: “This is a particularly busy time for our members and many musicians will have been relying on the festive period and the new year to provide much-needed funds following the devastating effects of lockdown and the well-publicised difficulties.
“It is absolutely crucial to their survival that the government recognises the economic abyss that our world-class players, performers, writers and teachers are facing. They need support and they need it now.”
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee chair Julian Knight welcomed further support for the arts but called for clarity on the likelihood of a lockdown, given its impact on the events sector.
He said: “While we await the detail, the announcement of additional financial support for the entertainment and hospitality sectors is welcome. It will be important for this funding to help all those whose livelihoods depend on thriving theatres and live venues, whether they be on the stage, behind the scenes or front of house.”
The acting artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company echoed the call for support across the sector, following news that 30 million will be made available through the Culture Recovery Fund.
Erica Whyman said in a statement: “The theatre industry has once again been hit hard by Covid-19. All RSC current productions are impacted, as are so many across the country. We welcome the additional support through the Culture Recovery Fund and wait to hear further news about the 30 million boost.
“Thanks to existing government support in the form of repayable finance, the RSC can weather some losses for a short period, although those losses will have a substantial impact on our future plans.
“Not all theatres can survive this fresh wave, even in the short term, and the significant financial impact of ongoing cancellations means that additional support is urgently needed to sustain the brilliant recovery the sector has made.
“Many of our most important cultural organisations are again in peril, and our freelance workforce are at particular risk, and remain essential to the success of our industry.”
The chancellor’s announcement of £1bn for UK businesses losing trade because of the Omicron surge gives “welcome breathing space” to the industries struggling this winter, the CBI has said.
Rain Newton-Smith, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) chief economist, said: “The chancellor has provided welcome breathing space to boost confidence and provide support for hospitality and leisure businesses to keep their doors open through tough disruption to their crucial winter trading.
“The latest targeted package offers a fair variety of support to help keep businesses open, with new central grants, flexibility on time to pay and sick pay support for SMEs. All this and more will help keep the economy open as we learn to live with the virus.
However, Newton-Smith was critical that the travel sector was still “disappointingly out of scope” of the funding. She added: “If infection and hospitalisation rates continue to grow across the country, the potential of further measures will weigh on firms. The government must monitor the situation closely and ensure that any new restrictions go in lock-step with further targeted cashflow support to those firms most in distress across sectors impacted.”
Updated
Scotland’s Hogmanay street parties are cancelled, while sporting events will be spectator-free for the next three weeks, as the Scottish government moves to reduce the risk of super-spreader events in the face of the far more transmissible Omicron variant, which now accounts for 62.9% of all cases.
Nicola Sturgeon reassured the Scottish public they will not have to change their Christmas Day plans as she appealed to everyone to reduce contact and to stay at home as much as possible in advance of 25 December and after Christmas weekend
The new rules will hit events such as Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay street party, which was going ahead at a reduced capacity of 30,000.
Sturgeon told MSPs that Omicron cases had increased by more than 50% in the past week – from more than 3,500 a day to almost 5,500 a day. While there were increases across all age groups the biggest – of 161% – was in 20- to 24-year-olds
Sturgeon’s statement included some other changes:
- Non-professional indoor contact sports for adults should not take place during the three-week period from 26 December
- A requirement for table service only will be reintroduced for venues serving alcohol for consumption on the premises
- Indoor hospitality and leisure venues will be asked to ensure 1 metre distance, not within but between groups of people who are attending together
- People meeting indoors at home or in hospitality or leisure venues should be in groups of no more than three households
Updated
Hogmanay celebrations cancelled in Scotland
Large-scale Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland are to be cancelled and live sports will be “effectively spectator-free” for three weeks from Boxing Day as the country introduces new restrictions on public events, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
Omicron is now firmly established as the dominant strain of coronavirus in Scotland, the first Minister said.
Updating MSPs, she said 62.9% of cases showed the S-gene dropout.
She said:
It is currently spreading rapidly across Scotland, and so the steep increase in infections that was predicted last week has now started to materialise.
She said more restrictions were needed to slow the spread of the virus.
Updated
Bereaved families have accused Boris Johnson of showing “flagrant disregard” for the public as ministers struggled to explain the justification for a wine and cheese event in Downing Street at the height of lockdown.
A Cabinet Office inquiry into other alleged government parties in breach of Covid rules could be expanded after the Guardian published an image showing the prime minister alongside his wife and up to 17 staff in the Downing Street garden in May 2020.
Amid growing fury over the photograph, Johnson said on Monday: “Those were meetings of people at work, talking about work.” Labour dismissed Downing Street’s explanation and said it amounted to evidence of law-breaking.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said the lack of any signs of work, with red wine and a cheeseboard visible rather than laptops or pens, showed Johnson “presided over a culture of believing that the rules applied only to other people”.
Read more from my colleagues Peter Walker and Jamie Grierson here:
The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who has taken on David Frost’s responsibilities as Brexit minister, has issued a statement following a first call with EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, with whom she will negotiate the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.
She writes that UK government policy has not changed despite France and other EU member states calling for a reset in their relations following a rancorous period.
Truss said:
We want a constructive relationship with the EU, underpinned by trade and our shared belief in freedom and democracy. Resolving the current issues is critical to unleashing that potential.
The UK position has not changed. We need goods to flow freely between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, end the role of the ECJ as the final arbiter of disputes between us, and resolve other issues.
We must pick up the pace on talks in the New Year. Our preference remains to reach an agreed solution.“If this does not happen, we remain prepared to trigger Article 16 safeguards to deal with the very real problems faced in Northern Ireland and to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions.
Updated
Responding to the chancellor’s funding announcement, bodies representing the travel industry have reacted with dismay to the news that the support package will not help travel businesses.
Luke Petherbridge, the director of public affairs for travel trade organisation Abta, said:
The chancellor’s statement today once again ignores the direct impact of Government policy decisions on businesses reliant on international travel.
Travel agents, tour operators and travel management companies will rightly be asking why they haven’t been given the same treatment as other businesses that are suffering at this time.
Average annual revenue across the travel industry is down by nearly 80% on pre-crisis levels even before Omicron emerged and the re-introduction of enhanced testing - both pre and post arrival - have added significant costs and notably dampened consumer demand.
As the sector approaches what should be the peak sales period for booking holidays for summer 2022, businesses are instead facing another round of heart-breaking and demoralising cancellations, with no indication that the Government is listening to the challenges they are facing.
Clive Wratten, the chief executive of the Business Travel Association, warned that travel companies had been left out of the government’s new financial support package.
He said:
It is devastating to see that once again business travel and its supply chain have been left out of government financial support.
It’s imperative that the arts, hospitality and leisure are given help through the latest wave of the pandemic. However, a vital part of the UK economy and the driver behind global Britain is being left in the cold.
We urgently need the Treasury to correct this oversight and support our industry into 2022.
This is the only way for there to be a safe return to international travel when conditions allow.
Updated
The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said Labour “will be going through the details” of the new measures for businesses, adding the government had been “dragged kicking and screaming” to announce them.
“Support is welcome but we will be going through the details of this announcement to see which business and workers are included and excluded,” she tweeted, adding that Boris Johnson is too distracted by the revolt in his own party to act in the public interest.
Labour has been calling for an economic support plan for businesses affected by a wave of pre-Christmas cancellations.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) December 21, 2021
Support is welcome but we will be going through the details of this announcement to see which business and workers are included and excluded. 1/3
But government have been dragged kicking and screaming here.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) December 21, 2021
In fact, the Chancellor was dragged back kicking and screaming from California, when this support should have been announced alongside Plan B.
This is a holding package from a government in a holding pattern. 2/3
The PM continues to be too distracted by revolt from Tory backbenchers to act in the public interest.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) December 21, 2021
Businesses and workers are crying out for clarity on what restrictions are down the road as many continue to be hit hard.
The government must bring some certainty now. 3/3
The shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, tweeted:
As (Rachel Reeves) says support is welcome, but I hope (Government) appreciate the problems they have caused by the gap between this announcement and the press conference last week.
As we await further announcements from the (Government), reassurance is needed this won’t happen again.
Updated
Representatives of businesses that run nightclubs, music venues and events have responded to Rishi Sunak’s support package calling it “inadequate”.
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said newly-announced support for the culture sector was “far too little” and “borders on the insulting”.
He said:
Businesses are failing, people are losing their livelihoods and the industry is crippled. Mixed messaging, coupled with additional restrictions, have had a catastrophic impact on our sector over the last two weeks.
At this critical point, we need strong leadership and a clear pathway from Government with a long-term strategy for new Covid variants.
The open/close strategy is crucifying businesses. Every pound of help is much needed. But this package is far too little and borders on the insulting.
Mark Davyd, founder and chief executive of Music Venue Trust, described the announcement of a further £30m for the government’s culture recovery fund this winter as “inadequate” to deal with the impact of rising cases on the sector.
He said:
We will need to see further details on the £30m package announced to support the cultural sector.
Our initial response is that this funding seems detached from the reality.
If correct, it would be inadequate to deal with the scale of the problem - we note that grassroots music venues are not even mentioned in the statement despite DCMS having all the evidence they need that losses in this sector alone will run to £22m by end of January.
Updated
Not everyone is impressed by the £1bn bailout for businesses.
The government needs to provide certainty, not just handouts for Covid, a business owner has said.
Nathan Godley, of restaurant supplier Premier Seafoods, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One:
This time of year I need to know what I need for the restaurants and they are unsure what to tell me, and I am unsure what to tell my supplier.
Fish doesn’t just go from the boat to the restaurant. There’s quite a few of us in this supply chain in between and we all need to know what is happening.
Godley said he wanted an idea of how he could plan a week in advance, adding: “I don’t need any handouts. I am not asking for that. I am just asking for certainty.”
Here’s some reaction to the news of the government’s support package for businesses hit by Covid restrictions.
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said:
This is a generous package building on existing hospitality support measures to provide an immediate emergency cash injection for those businesses who, through no fault of their own, have seen their most valuable trading period annihilated.
It will help to secure jobs and business viability in the short term, particularly among small businesses in the sector, and we particularly welcome the boost to funds for the supply chain and event and business catering companies so badly affected by the reintroduction of work from home guidelines.
Nicholls added there is a “real urgency” to get the funding to businesses.
British Chambers of Commerce director general Shevaun Haviland said:
These measures will provide some welcome respite to many of those businesses who have been hit hardest by the latest Covid measures.
The chancellor and his team have engaged with us in talks over the past week, considered the experiences of chamber business communities and the proposals we put to them.
We are pleased that the chancellor heard our call for additional grant funding for hospitality and leisure businesses, which will provide some much-needed support in the face of this increasingly difficult trading period. Clarity and speed will be needed to ensure that these grants are paid out swiftly to help these hard-pressed firms weather the next few weeks.
Whilst these measures are a positive starting point, if restrictions persist or are tightened further, then we would need to see a wider support package, equal to the scale of any new measures, put in place.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) national chairman Mike Cherry said he hoped the measures would help small businesses facing hardship as a result of a decline in custom over Christmas.
He said:
These positive measures will help alleviate the intense pressures that small firms are currently under and hopefully arrest a significant decline in confidence over this year.
With the prospect of one million people sick or self-isolating by January, we encouraged the Chancellor to bring back the Covid statutory sick pay rebate - we’re pleased to see our recommendation taken forward today.
This move will reduce stress for small employers up and down the country, helping those who are struggling most with depleted cashflow. It’s vital that small firms - once again up against a massively disrupted festive season - can reclaim the costs of supporting staff.
The government has also rightly taken forward other aspects of our 10-point plan, with £1bn worth of grant support for the hardest-hit sectors, alongside accelerated delivery of the business rates relief fund for supply chains launched months ago.
The encouragement of HMRC to give as much breathing space as possible to small firms as we head towards tax return season will also come as a relief to many.
We’ve always said that support needs to move in lockstep with restrictions and this intervention will help give small businesses confidence that this is the approach government will be taking.
Updated
Businesses hit by Omicron to get £1bn bailout, says Rishi Sunak
A bailout package worth about £1bn for businesses losing trade because of the Omicron surge was announced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on Tuesday.
The funding will primarily help firms in the leisure and hospitality sector, and follows concerns that they have faced cancelled bookings and plummeting custom since the government implemented its Covid plan B.
According to UKHospitality, many businesses have lost up to 60% of their trade in December, which is usually their most profitable month.
Sunak said the government was intervening because “the spread of the Omicron variant means businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors are facing huge uncertainty, at a crucial time”.
The bailout package consists of four elements:
- Grants for hospitality and leisure businesses in England, worth up to £6,000 per premise. The Treasury has set aside £683m for these payments, which will be administered through local authorities and will be available in the coming weeks.
- Further grants for businesses in England, worth £102m, intended to help businesss most in need, and again administered through local authorities.
- The resumption of the statutory sick pay rebate scheme, which will reimburse employers in the UK with fewer than 250 workers for the cost of paying statutory sick pay for Covid-related absences for up to two weeks.
- An extra £30m for arts organisations in the UK, paid through the culture recovery fund.
In addition, the Scottish government will receive £150m, the Welsh government £50m and the Northern Ireland executive £25m to offset the England-only spending.
Read more from my colleagues Andrew Sparrow and Richard Partington here:
As the Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country, most Britons seem to be taking matters into their own hands and self-policing in order to avoid catching Covid before the festive weekend, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI.
Here are some of the results of the survey:
- Nine in 10 (89%) say they have already or plan to wear their face mask more while the same proportion are already or will start sanitising/washing their hands more regularly.
- Eight in 10 (81%) are keeping or plan to keep their distance while socialising (such as not hugging or shaking hands with people), and a similar proportion have already or plan to have their booster jab (80%).
- Two-thirds say they have/will test themselves with lateral flow tests more regularly (67%) while the same proportion are shopping online rather than in store in order to avoid catching the virus.
- A majority of Britons are also taking matters into their own hands by avoiding public transport (58% have done so or plan to), not attending social gatherings in friends or family’s houses and not going to pubs or restaurants (both 57%).
- Just under half, 45% of workers say they are or are going to work from home instead of the office, while 47% that they have not/plan not to attend their work Christmas party.
- When asked to consider the restrictions currently in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus, just over four in ten say they are not strict enough (44%) while 36% say they are about right and another 16% that they are too strict.
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said of the findings:
As the debate continues on the best approach to deal with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, Britons themselves say they are taking steps to avoid a Covid Christmas, such as wearing masks, washing hands and keeping their distance when socialising – and many are planning to get a booster jab if they haven’t already got one.
Around four in ten say they have avoided social gatherings at others’ houses or going to pubs and restaurants, and another one in six say they plan to do so.
Few expect there to be a quick return to normality, and on the restrictions themselves as throughout the pandemic most people think they are about right or not strict enough – only a small minority (although a slightly increasing one) think they are too strict. But views are split – not quite half think the restrictions are not strict enough, and there is a clear age divide, with older people more in favour of tighter restrictions than the young.
The cabinet office minister, Stephen Barclay, has said imposing plan B Covid measures in England has caused ‘significant behaviour change’ to consumers’ habits, adding that the Treasury will respond to the concerns of businesses later on Tuesday.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Barclay said implementing more restrictions would come at a ‘very significant economic cost’.
David Deans of BBC Wales has shared a letter written by Tory Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies.
Davies is calling for a recall of the Senedd and has complained that MSs should have the chance to debate and vote on new restrictions during recess.
Tory Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies is calling for a recall of the Senedd - complains that MSs had not heard from the Health Minister this morning, and should have the chance to debate and vote on new restrictions during recess pic.twitter.com/BazbqeEo3j
— David Deans (@DeansOfCardiff) December 21, 2021
Although Nicola Sturgeon has assured the Scottish public they will not have to change their Christmas Day plans, the country’s Hogmanay celebrations hang in the balance today.
The cabinet is considering this morning whether to cancel largescale events including Hogmanay street parties, concerts and sporting fixtures, before the first minister’s regular Covid statement to Holyrood just after 2pm.
Wales has already announced plans to close nightclubs and to hold sporting events without crowds from Boxing Day.
One major concern is Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay street party, which is currently going ahead at a reduced capacity of 30,000, who must show evidence of a negative lateral flow test to attend the ticketed event.
Yesterday London mayor Sadiq Khan cancelled a New Year event for 6,500 key workers and members of the public in Trafalgar Square.
The announcement comes as the row between devolved government and the UK Treasury over Covid funding continues. Sturgeon was described as “utterly incredulous” to discover that neither the Prime Minister nor the Chancellor were on Sunday’s Cobra call with the devolved nations to discuss a further funding package. She has made it clear that she favour more significant and immediate restrictions but points out that her government, with no borrowing powers, cannot offer the necessary compensation for such closures.
The Treasury announced further funding to devolved governments at the start of the week, but it remains unclear whether this is “new” cash or an advance of money already budgeted for.
All sporting events in Wales will be held behind closed doors from Boxing Day due to the surge in coronavirus cases, the Welsh government has announced.
The economy minister, Vaughan Gething, announced the new measures for both indoor and outdoor sporting events in a bid to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. The measures mean that a number of events, including the Welsh Grand National, football and rugby union fixtures, will be closed to spectators.
Sporting events over the Christmas period are one of the big highlights of the year. Unfortunately, the new Omicron variant is a significant development in the pandemic and could cause a large number of infections,. We need to do everything we can to protect people’s health and control the spread of this awful virus.
Throughout the pandemic we have followed scientific and public health advice to keep people safe. The advice is clear – we need to act now in response to the threat of Omicron.
We are giving people as much notice of these decisions as we can. Crowds will come back as soon as possible. We want everyone to be here to enjoy their favourite sports.
Read the full story here:
What new measures are thought to be under consideration in England?
The prime minister is understood to be considering three options to curb the spread of Omicron. The least restrictive would be asking the public to limit social mixing, without legal enforcement. This would bring England into line with measures in place in Scotland, where people have been advised to reduce their socialising and limit gatherings to three households.
A step up from this would be mandatory restrictions on household mixing, the return of social distancing, and forcing pubs and restaurants to close at 8pm. The third option is a return to full lockdown, or something like it, with a two-week “circuit breaker” rumoured to be on the cards. Boris Johnson said on Friday he was not “closing things down”, but increasing pressures on the NHS may prompt a rethink.
Given Omicron’s transmissibility, would 2-metre social distancing make a difference?
Although Omicron appears to be more transmissible than previous variants, the fundamental mechanisms for transmission probably remain the same – the virus is emitted in aerosols and droplets from breathing, talking, singing, coughing and sneezing.
Cath Noakes, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and a professor of environmental engineering for buildings at the University of Leeds, said: “We don’t yet know whether people with Omicron emit more virus or whether the balance of transmission at close proximity versus through the air at a longer distance has changed. But regardless, the concentration of aerosols and droplets is always greater at closer distance and hence physical distancing remains an important measure.
“However, we know from experience throughout the pandemic – not just Omicron – that in many environments, 2-metre distancing on its own is not enough, and people can be infected when they share a poorly ventilated room with each other.”
Another advantage of 2-metre distancing is that it restricts the number of people in indoor settings, reducing the chances of an infectious person being present – and the number of people they could transmit the virus to. For the same reason, the return of social distancing would be extremely bad news for hospitality businesses.
Read the answers to more frequently asked questions here:
There have been questions about whether parliament could be recalled from their break in time before Christmas day, but my colleague Andrew Sparrow points out that actually in theory, they could be called back to make a decision about Covid restrictions on the day itself:
None of this is fixed. In theory they cd sit on Xmas day, and, although they are saying it takes 48 hours to recall, if they really wanted they cd speed that up.
— AndrewSparrow (@AndrewSparrow) December 21, 2021
More museums have been forced to close due to the surge in cases of Covid-19.
On Monday it emerged that at least five national museums, including the Natural History Museum and Edinburgh Castle were shutting their doors because of Covid-related staff absences.
Several other attractions have also announced they have closed, or will close, early. They include London’s Museum of the Home, the Bexhill Museum, the Richmond Museum, and the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (Sofo) in Woodstock.
In a tweet Sofo said: “We’ve had to move to a #PlanB of our own - we now close from 5pm Sunday 19th December 2021.”
🎅 🚨 #Christmas and #NewYear 🚨 🥳
— SOFO Museum (@SOFOtrust) December 15, 2021
We've had to move to a #PlanB of our own - we now close from 5pm Sunday 19th December 2021, but you should still be able to visit us again from 4th January 2022
Plus, #JamesBond will return in #SpyOxfordshire - now extended to 24 April 2022! pic.twitter.com/A7RlRNy23G
The museum of the Home has announced it will close on Wednesday and will not reopen until 4 January.
Due to staff shortages the Museum will close at 5pm on Wednesday 22 December. We plan to reopen to the public on Tuesday 4 January, 2022.
— Museum of the Home (@MuseumoftheHome) December 20, 2021
Book for the new year https://t.co/uiRofKQTS5
From everyone here at the Museum – stay safe and well. We look forward to welcoming you back. pic.twitter.com/dHZC4ulECD
The museum of Richmond said it had decided to close for the festive season “earlier than planned”.
We have decided to close the Museum for the festive season, earlier than planned. We look forward to welcoming you to the Museum in 2022 for an exciting programme of exhibitions and events, and wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🎄🥳 pic.twitter.com/qT4gVHHUCF
— Museum of Richmond (@museumrichmond) December 20, 2021
Bexhill Museum, meanwhile, has closed until Boxing Day when it plans to reopen at 11am.
Bexhill Museum is now closed until Boxing Day. From Sunday 26.12.2021 to Bank Holiday Monday 3.1.2022 we are open 11am to 4pm, we will then close until 25.1.2022. Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year! #Bexhill #Museum #Sussex #Christmas https://t.co/HWyCg74ukW pic.twitter.com/SibvtSOmcJ
— Bexhill Museum (@bexhillmuseum) December 20, 2021
Updated
A total of 764 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending December 10 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is down 4% on the previous week and is the lowest number of deaths since the week to October 15, when the total was 713.
Around one in 16 (6.4%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to December 10 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.
Some 65 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales were registered in the week to December 10, down slightly from 67 in the previous week.
In total, 44,406 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.
The ONS figures cover deaths of care home residents in all settings, not just in care homes.
The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has tested positive for Covid, he has announced on Twitter.
He said he fell ill after returning from London last week.
1/2 When I returned from London on Friday evening I felt a cold coming on but it has been getting worse. PCR test has now come back positive. Close contacts will be notified. Thankfully I received my booster two weeks ago. The importance of being vaccinated cannot be overstated.
— Jeffrey Donaldson MP (@J_Donaldson_MP) December 21, 2021
The UK government borrowed £17.4bn in November, outstripping economists’ predictions and suggesting debt could far overshoot officials’ forecasts if the Omicron coronavirus variant slows the economy as expected.
It was the highest November borrowing since comparable records began 30 years ago, barring last year. During the furlough scheme last year, the Treasury under Rishi Sunak set successive peacetime records for monthly borrowing as it covered the costs of 80% of salaries for millions of people as well as support schemes for businesses.
Significant borrowing has continued in 2021, with £136bn borrowed between April and November, according to data published on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics. That was the second highest since records began in 1993.
It’s Rishi Sunak, not the Bank of England, who needs to act to get the UK’s economy firing againCarys RobertsRead more
The November borrowing was higher than the £16bn a poll of economists by Reuters predicted. Higher debt interest costs of £4.6bn and increased spending on the vaccine programme and test and trace contributed to the higher figure.
Government borrowing is likely to come under further scrutiny in the coming months from within the Conservative party. Public sector net debt – the amount borrowed over the years – was £2.3tn at the end of November, or 96.1% of GDP. That was the highest debt-to-GDP ratio since March 1963, when it was 98.3%.
Read more here:
The Treasury is set to respond today to concerns of businesses suffering financially from the latest Covid wave, a minister has said, while a leading scientist has added that the country is facing the most uncertain period of the pandemic since March 2020.
The cabinet office minister Steve Barclay said that, even though at cabinet on Monday ministers held back from a decision to press ahead with further restrictions, the plan B measures already implemented were having an impact.
Barclay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
We’re acutely aware that, as a consequence of plan B, we have seen significant behaviour change.
You see that for example, in restaurant bookings. That is why the chancellor [Rishi Sunak] has been engaging with industry leaders.
Barclay said Sunak was talking to industry figures about their financial predicament and the government would be saying more about this issue later on Tuesday.
Barclay also said, in a separate interview, that the government was “keen to keep businesses open” and and that hospitality firms “should continue to plan for the bookings they have”.
Read the full story here:
“Infighting” and “jockeying” for the Conservative leadership has taken over from Covid decision-making, Labour has said.
Asked by Times Radio whether the government has provided clarity by saying that decisions on new restrictions will be taken at a later date, Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said this is not the case.
She said:
Most of the read-outs from those meetings and the rumours that have spread since suggest that really this is about disagreement within a group of senior conservatives, jockeying for position to be the next leader of the Conservative Party rather than actually soberly looking at the evidence both health and economic evidence and taking a decision.
We do need a Government right now that is now focused on the national interest, not infighting within the Conservative Party.
Dodds also said Labour would “follow the evidence” if it was in power, pointing to decision-making by the Welsh Labour government based on the latest scientific advice.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a former member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has told the Today programme “each of us can do things today that will make the chance of further restrictions lighter”.
He added:
Omicron is spreading unbelievably fast. It is a phenomenal variant transmission.
There is great uncertainty about what is it going to lead to in terms of pressure on the health system, people going to hospital, particularly people dying, but also what impact is it going to have on the broader society, staff absences, the ability to have functioning other services, so there is great uncertainty.
My personal view is that I think we can wait at the moment until there are more restrictions formally placed.
A top scientist has said we “cannot afford to cross our fingers and hope this crisis blows over” as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 spreads across the world.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, said in a statement: “As we have learned from the very beginning of this pandemic, it’s better to act sooner than later.”
He said it was essential that governments act “swiftly and accordingly, paying close attention to the data”.
To bring Omicron under any form of control, he said, it’s critical that transmission is slowed.
If not, we could see profound impacts on health systems but also across sectors such as education, hospitality, public transport, police and essential national infrastructure as infections prevent people from working. No country can afford to think they are an exception.
It is staggering and deeply frustrating that two years into this pandemic – when we have gathered so much evidence and made huge scientific progress – that governments are still not anticipating events and acting early or working together anywhere near the scale that is required.
He also warned that the government shouldn’t just focus on domestic issues but think about the bigger picture in order to get Covid under control.
He said:
Without a truly global response, where we urgently increase access to tests, treatments and vaccines in all countries – not just those with buying power – we cannot expect to achieve lasting recovery. Global leaders had indicated through pledges they understand the problem, but all too often these remain just that – pledges. We are far beyond the time for warm words. Countries around the world cannot afford to wait for high-income nations to act on their promises. We can do better. We must do better.
At the same time, we must invest far more now in next generation therapeutics and vaccines, ones that not only stop sickness and death, but also prevent transmission and work against potential new variants. Next year, we must do what we have so far failed to do – we must get ahead of this pandemic and break this vicious reactive cycle.
There would be “economic consequences” to further Covid restrictions, a minister has stated as he said Parliament is not yet due to be recalled to discuss new measures.
Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast:
The prime minister has given a commitment that where there are additional regulations bought forward that parliament would be recalled in order that members of parliament can scrutinise and debate those issues, but we are not at that stage.
We are looking closely at the data and we need to recognise there are economic consequences to further restrictions.
There is much that we still don’t know but we are still looking at that data on what are very finely-balanced decisions.
Barclay said people should have a “cautious” Christmas, according to a government minister who has changed his own plans.
He told LBC he had downsized the number of family members at his Christmas celebrations this year, with only his in-laws attending.
The cabinet office minister said:
We are saying to people that they should continue with Christmas but do so in a cautious way. That is what I will be doing with my own family.
We can all protect our families and friends by having the booster.
When asked what a cautious Christmas is, he added: “I think it is thinking about how many people we need to see. Some of my family won’t be coming over at Christmas. My wife’s parents will be joining us but others will not.”
New Covid restrictions are unlikely to be imposed before Christmas amid deep cabinet divisions but Boris Johnson warned further measures remain on the table, with data on the threat of Omicron monitored “hour by hour”.
The prime minister was accused of failing to follow scientists’ advice on the need for immediate restrictions while leaving millions of people and businesses in limbo after a two-hour cabinet meeting ended with no decision on Monday.
During the meeting, scientific advisers briefed ministers on the latest data including a steep rise in hospitalisations in London, with the UK’s highest number of Omicron cases, while 91,743 people tested positive for Covid on Monday across the UK.
Afterwards, the prime minister said the arguments for and against stricter measures were “finely balanced” and the situation was “extremely difficult”.
Read the full story by my colleagues Aubrey Allegretti, Peter Walker and Sarah Butler from last night here:
The effect that lockdowns have on people’s lives is as bad as going to hospital, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned amid the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and uncertainty over whether or not new restrictions will be brought in.
The former leader of the conservative party told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
We need to understand the effect of lockdown is dramatic across so many areas of people’s lives, which equates to the same as people going into hospital.
He said the government to make a decision about further restrictions only when there is a “wider range of information on the effect of lockdown”.
Duncan Smith said:
We do not want to end up where we were last Christmas and we do have a significantly vaccinated population and that has a huge effect on hospitalisation, so we are under different circumstances than we were last January.
Scientists have said waiting to implement further restrictions until the new year would “almost certainly be too late to have a material impact on the epidemic”.
The prime minister announced after a cabinet meeting that he would not be introducing any further Covid restrictions for now, adding: “The situation is extremely difficult and the arguments either way are very, very finely balanced.”
Yet, with Omicron infections currently doubling within 48 hours in most regions of the UK, the country may already have reached a ceiling where the rate of growth begins to fall and case numbers plateau.
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. believes that point could come within days, with or without interventions. “If we implement control measures now, they are unlikely to be sufficient to reverse the growth, only slow it,” he said. “But there may still be benefits in slowing the peak, in terms of flattening the curve.”
One solution that appears to be on the table is a return to the “step 2” measures introduced as part of the roadmap out of lockdown earlier this year – chiefly, people only being allowed to socialise indoors with members of their household or a support bubble, and outdoor socialising being limited to groups of six people or two households, including at pubs and restaurants.
Prof Christina Pagel, the director of UCL’s clinical operational research unit, said:
Waiting for definitive evidence that it could cause the NHS to be overwhelmed will be too late to avert the crisis. Instead, the government should follow Sage [the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies] advice and return to step 2 of the roadmap immediately to prevent thousands of infections over the coming days and then monitor the situation hour by hour so that measures can be lifted as quickly as possible, hopefully even in time to enable limited household mixing over Christmas weekend.
Read the full story here:
The government will “say more” about its discussions with business leaders calling for more Covid financial support later today, a minister has said.
When asked about measures to help businesses struggling this Christmas due to Covid restrictions, cabinet office minister Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast:
The chancellor was talking to industry leaders about this very issue last night. We will say more about this later today.
We recognise obviously we are keen to keep businesses open and businesses should continue to plan for the bookings they have.
We absolutely recognise that through Plan B and the behaviour change there has been an impact on those bookings.
Government looking 'closely at the data' before deciding on more restrictions
The government will “look closely at the data” about whether or not to have a circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas, a minister has said.
When asked if the measure was being considered, cabinet office minister Steve Barclay told LBC Radio:
We are looking closely at the data, there is much we still don’t know about the severity of Omicron, how it leads to hospital admissions.
We are looking particularly at the London data, there is a higher prevalence of Omicron particularly in London.
Asked if he had been among members of the cabinet calling for more data before new restrictions were introduced, Barclay said:
I think it is right that the cabinet has a full and robust discussion.
That is what people would expect. It is right that we look at the balance between protecting lives and livelihoods.
Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast that the prime minister has given a commitment that where there are additional regulations bought forward that parliament would be recalled in order that MPs can scrutinise and debate those issues, but he added: “We are not at that stage”.
He said:
We are looking closely at the data and we need to recognise there are economic consequences to further restrictions.
There is much that we still don’t know but we are still looking at that data on what are very finely-balanced decisions.
Meanwhile, scientists have reacted with dismay to Boris Johnson’s decision not to impose fresh restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron, emphasising that waiting until the new year would “almost certainly be too late to have a material impact on the epidemic”.
Updated
