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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Johnson says he must ‘reserve possibility of taking further action’ after 91,743 new cases – as it happened

Early evening summary

  • Boris Johnson has held off announcing further Covid restrictions now - although he has hinted that new measures may be announced shortly. In a statement after a cabinet meeting lasting at least two hours, he claimed that the arguments for and against further restrictions - interventions being forcefully demanded by government scientific advisers - were “very, very finely balanced”. (See 5.50pm.) One leading Tory rebel on this issue welcomed this as evidence that the PM was pushing back against “lockdown fanatics”. (See 6.01pm.) But Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, accused Johnson of being “scared of his backbenchers”. Streeting suggested the government should be following the example of the Labour administration in Cardiff, which has already announced that further restrictions will come into force in Wales after Christmas.
  • The UK has recorded 91,743 new coronavirus cases - the second highest daily total on this measure. (See 4.15pm.)

That is all from me for today. But our Covid coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.

Updated

Omicron may account for almost 70% of UK Covid cases, analysis suggests

The UK Health Security Agency has now published its latest Omicron daily overview (pdf). It shows that analysis suggests that at the end of last week 69% of Covid cases in the UK had the S-gene target failure - which is seen as a very reliable indicator for Omicron. In London the figure was almost 90%.

% of Covid cases with SGTF by region
% of Covid cases with SGTF by region Photograph: UKHSA

Esther McVey, the Tory former cabinet minister, thinks Boris Johnson’s statement tonight (see 5.50pm) shows he is responding to Conservative backbench opinion. She was one of the Tories who voted against the government in all three Covid votes last week - on face coverings, Covid passes and mandatory vaccination for NHS workers.

How Johnson explains not announcing further Covid restrictions now

Here is the opening statement that Boris Johnson delivered at the start of his pooled TV interview after cabinet. It sums up his position, which is that he is not announcing further Covid restrictions now, but clearly warning that such measures may be coming shortly. He said:

We’ve had a long discussion in cabinet for a couple of hours now, a very good discussion, at which we agreed that the situation is extremely difficult and the arguments either way are very, very finely balanced.

Because we’ve got cases of Omicron surging across the country now, we’ve got hospitalisations, rising quite steeply in London, and the obvious conclusion is that of course it was right to go fast for plan B in the way that we did, and also right to double the speed of the booster rollout ...

And in view of the balance of risks and uncertainties, particularly around the infection hospitalisation rate of Omicron - how many people does Omicron put into hospital of the infected – and some other uncertainties to do with severity and booster effectiveness and so on, we agreed that we should keep the data from now on under constant review, keep following it hour by hour.

And unfortunately I must say to people we will have to reserve the possibility of taking further action to protect the public ... and we won’t hesitate to take that action.

But in the meantime, what I would say to everybody is please exercise caution as you go about your lives, please think of the guidance and think protecting yourself and your loved ones. And please get a booster, please get a vaccination.

Given that some government sources are hinting that further restrictions are likely after Christmas, possibly starting a week tomorrow (see 2.49am), Johnson’s claim that making an announcement now about new measures would be premature may seem disingenous. His caution is undoubtedly influenced by the fact that some Tory MPs are vehemently opposed to further regulations.

But even Labour, which has been demanding more clarity now, has indicated that it is not in favour of new restrictions on social mixing coming into force before Christmas (see 10.57am), and so Johnson, like the opposition, may in part be also just making a judgment about what is acceptable to the public.

Updated

These are from ITV’s Anushka Asthana, who conducted the pooled interview with Boris Johnson after the cabinet meeting.

Updated

Johnson holds off announcing further restrictions now – but says nothing ruled out for future

Boris Johnson also said the government reserved the “possibility of taking further action” to protect public health because of the spread of the Omicron variant, PA Media reports:

Following a meeting of the cabinet, the prime minister said they were monitoring the situation “hour by hour”.

“Unfortunately I must say to people that we will have to reserve the possibility of taking further action to protect the public, to protect public health, to protect our NHS,” he said.

“We won’t hesitate to take action.”

Johnson also said nothing was ruled out for the future.

Updated

Johnson claims arguments for and against further restrictions 'finely balanced'

Boris Johnson has said the decisions for and against further restrictions are “finely balanced”, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports.

According to Sage, the argument for further restrictions are not at all finely balanced, but compelling. See 10.33am.

The quote is from a pooled TV interview that Boris Johnson has recorded. I will post more from it shortly.

Some of the data being studied most closely by scientists and ministers as they consider what to do about Omicron will be the hospital admissions data. Omicron took off in London before anywhere else in the UK, and here are the hospital admission figures for London from the government’s Covid dashboard today. Admissions are still only a quarter of what they were at the peak in January, but the seven-day rolling average has gone from about 90 at the start of November to more than double that in the middle of last week. The actual figure now is likely to be even higher.

Covid hospital admissions in London
Covid hospital admissions in London. Photograph: Gov.UK

Updated

The UK Health Security Agency has announced that there have been another 8,044 Omicron cases confirmed since yesterday, taking the total to 45,145. That’s a 22% increase.

Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall has a useful Twitter thread about some of the theatres and museums that are now closing because of Covid. It starts here.

UK records 91,743 new Covid cases - second highest daily total on record

The UK has recorded 91,743 new coronavirus cases, the government’s Covid dashboard says. That is the second highest recorded total ever, beaten only by the figure for Friday last week, when 93,045 cases were recorded.

(Comparisons are only appropriate with the second and third waves, because there was very little testing during the first wave, which kept recorded cases very low.)

And the total number of new cases over the past week is now up 60.8% on the total for the previous week. Yesterday the week on week total was up 51.9%.

There have been 44 further deaths, and week-on-week deaths are still going down, by 5.4% on today’s figure.

Recorded Covid cases for UK
Recorded Covid cases for UK Photograph: Gov.UK

Updated

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is also accusing Boris Johnson of dithering over the announcement of new Covid measures.

Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group, which represents lockdown-sceptic Tory MPs, has urged the government to be more open about the measures it is planning, and the data behind it.

Harper’s tweet implies that ministers have already decided what they will do, but have just not got round to telling anyone. That may not be the case; throughout this process decisions have been made at the last minute, after much dither. And although governments routinely keep advice from officials confidential, with Covid there is more transparency than in most other areas of policymaking. The main advice is coming from Sage, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, and a raft of papers considered at its last meeting, on Thursday last week, is now on its website, as well as the minutes (pdf).

Updated

DfE urges former teachers to help cover for Covid-related staff absences next term

The Department for Education is urging former teachers in England who have time available to return to the classroom next term to help cover for absent staff. As it explains in its news release, “the Omicron variant is expected to continue to cause increased staff absence levels in the spring term, and some local areas may struggle to find sufficient numbers of supply teachers available unless former staff come forward.”

The Disability Charities Consortium, which represents major disability charities, has written an open letter to Boris Johnson saying it has “grave concerns” that governmment measures announced to deal with Omicron do not pay enough concerns to the needs of disabled people.

It is particularly critical of the lack of fresh guidance for the clinically extremely vulnerable, and it says disabled people are having problems getting booster jabs. On this point it says:

We have had sight of a letter from the DHSC [Department of Health and Social Care] dated 17th December that encourages priority access for the clinically vulnerable including disabled people. We know that disabled people do not have the same flexibility for attending appointments as others, especially if relying on support from carers or personal assistants. Those who require facilities such as accessible parking and toilets face less choice in where they can get a booster. For many, walk-in centres are not an option due to long queues. Whilst the latest letter is positive about queue management, we urge the government to monitor the take up of the booster amongst disabled people and ensure all venues and information are accessible for disabled people across the country, and to give priority access to disabled people.

Updated

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced that it is providing £28m to councils in England to help them get rough sleepers vaccinated.

Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and deputy first minister, has described today’s court ruling on the DUP’s boycott of ministerial meetings with the Irish government (see 2.17pm) as an “embarrassing indictment” of the party. She said:

The DUP declared publicly that they are engaged in a political boycott of North-South Ministerial Council meetings in protest at the Brexit protocol.

Today the high court stated that they cannot force DUP ministers to act in good faith who are wilfully disregarding the rule of law and in breach of the ministerial code of conduct through their boycott of the North-South Ministerial Council. The court acknowledges that the DUP is in plain breach of their obligations.

This is an embarrassing indictment of the DUP and their continued juvenile antics in the executive.

According to ITV’s Anushka Asthana, a Zoom briefing about Covid that Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, was due to hold with MPs this afternoon has been postponed.

Updated

According to the Times’ Steven Swinford, Boris Johnson is not likely to announce further Covid restrictions today.

UPDATE: The Sun has had a similar briefing.

Updated

DUP ministers' boycott of cross-border meetings 'breach of solemn pledge', judge says

DUP ministers who are boycotting cross-border political meetings as part of a protest against Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol are in “abject breach of their solemn pledge”, a high court judge has said. However, as PA Media reports, Mr Justice Scoffield declined to make any order mandating the ministers to set a date and agenda for the next meeting of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC), citing concerns about the courts getting involved in ongoing political matters. PA says:

The judge also said that given recent violence in Northern Ireland attributed to opposition to the protocol, it was incumbent on political leaders to be seen to be upholding the law.

Belfast businessman Sean Napier has already secured a court judgment that declared the DUP boycott as unlawful.

However, that ruling has not prompted a change in the DUP policy of non-engagement.

Napier’s lawyers sought a further ruling compelling DUP first minister Paul Givan to engage with Sinn Féin deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill and the Irish government to set a date and agenda for the next plenary meeting of the NSMC.

It cannot happen without the participation of the DUP and the party is currently not engaging in the cross-border political structures set up under the Good Friday agreement, with the exception of meetings related to health issues.

The party contends that the Brexit protocol and its associated barriers on Irish Sea trade have damaged east/west relations and, as such, it should not be business as usual when it comes to north-south relations.

Mr Justice Scoffield refused to grant the mandatory order against the DUP ministers, but reaffirmed his earlier declaration that their policy was unlawful.

Updated

NHS England says it administered more than 1.5m booster jabs over weekend

NHS England has said that more than 1.5m booster jabs were administered over the weekend. There were 830,403 on Saturday, an all-time record, and 726,195 yesterday. In a news release, NHS England said:

In the week since the prime minister declared the fight against Omicron a national mission, NHS staff and volunteers have stepped up and delivered more than 4.6m doses of the Covid booster vaccine, a full 85% more than the previous seven days.

The NHS has also delivered over 1m first and second doses in December so far.

Some 443,919 first doses and 568,129 second doses in December have been delivered as people continue to come forward for their initial jabs with vaccinations offering the best protection against coronavirus.

Updated

Independent Sage, the independent group of scientists that has been critical of government Covid policy, often because it favours tougher restrictions, has published a document explaining how people can draw up a household plan for safe mixing over Christmas. There is a link here.

Updated

No 10 says staff drinking at 'work meeting' in garden justified because it was after normal office hours

And here is a full summary of the lobby briefing.

  • Boris Johnson will chair a cabinet meeting to discuss the Covid situation at 2pm, Downing Street said. (See 12.33pm.)
  • The PM’s spokesman restated the claim that No 10 staff photographed having a drink in Downing Street last May, when lockdown restrictions were in force, were attending a work meeting. This is what No 10 told the Guardian yesterday, although Dominic Raab, the deputy PM, claimed this morning they were having a drink after meetings.

The spokesman resolved this apparent contradiction by saying the gathering took place “after normal working hours”, but that it was a “work meeting” because staff were discussing work. Asked why drink was involved, the spokesman said it was after normal working hours and having a drink was not against the rules. Asked why Carrie Johnson, the PM’s wife, was there, the spokesman said that because the family live at Downing Street, it’s her garden too. He would not discuss why she seemed to be participating in the meeting. Asked if Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who is investigating the propriety of No 10 parties during lockdown, would include this in his inquiry, the spokesman said that was up to her. Asked if Martin Reynolds, the PM’s principal private secretary, was one of those photographed, the spokesman would not say. But he said Reynolds was not involved in the Gray inquiry, so there was no conflict of interest. Asked if No 10 would publish the minutes of this “meeting”, the spokesman said not every meeting involved minutes being taken.

  • The spokesman sidestepped a question about whether Johnson preferred guidance to restrictions as a means of controlling Covid. Asked about this, the spokesman said: “We will take any necessary steps in the interest of protecting lives and livelihoods.” He also said that at times both approaches had been used.

You have seen we’ve in the past introduced some things in guidance in the past and some things in regulation. We’ve got the position as set out through plan B and we’re keeping that under review.

  • The spokesman defended Johnson’s non-attendance at yesterday’s Cobra meeting (see 11.09am and 11.19am) He said that Johnson had chaired other meetings on Covid over the weekend. And he said it was appropriate for Steve Barclay, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, to chair this meeting because it focused on the devolved administrations.
  • The spokesman did not rule out the possibility of the isolation rules being changed, so that people who test positive don’t always have to isolate for a full 10 days. Ministers are reportedly considering this plan. Asked if that was correct, the spokesman said:

We will keep anything like that on the isolation period under review based on the latest clinical advice and we would update if that were to change.

Updated

Laura Kuenssberg will step down as the BBC’s political editor at Easter and take on a senior presenting and reporting role, the broadcaster said.

Whitty and Vallance to brief cabinet at 2pm on Covid situation

The Downing Street lobby briefing has finished, and No 10 has confirmed that Boris Johnson will be chairing cabinet at 2pm. It will take place virtually.

Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, its chief scientific adviser, will update ministers on the Covid situation.

No 10 has not announced a press conference later, although it has not ruled one out either. The PM’s spokesman would not say whether ministers would be asked at the meeting to approve new restrictions.

I will post more from the briefing shortly.

Keir Starmer has said that to claim that the Downing Street staff gathering in the garden last May, featured in a photograph obtained by the Guardian, was a work meeting is “a bit of a stretch”. He told Sky News:

Everybody will have looked at that photograph and to suggest that that is a work meeting is a bit of a stretch by anybody’s analysis.

I think there are very serious questions to be answered, but just look at the photo and ask yourself is that a work meeting going on or is that a social event? I think the answer is pretty obvious.

Starmer also said the photograph was taken at a time when some family members had to miss funerals. He said:

During that period there were funerals of people where very few people could go and mourn those that had tragically died.

That is the real contrast: that picture, which as I say is a real stretch to pretend that is a work meeting, versus and up against pictures of those who have lost someone and not been able even to go to the funeral.

Updated

Prof Carl Heneghan, a GP and director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, has been one of the UK scientists most sceptical about the case for ongoing lockdowns or Covid restrictions. In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, he said people were already moderating their behaviour in response to the threat posed by Omicron without the need for new laws. He said:

If you’re in Greater London now, [population in] the workplace is down by 40%, public transport down by 40%. In the City of London, it’s up to 60%. So people are able to respond to information or adapt their behaviour accordingly. The question here is when are we going to treat people like adults?

People will moderate their behaviour accordingly. That’s what we need to trust people to do going forward because that’s the only sustainable policy.

Heneghan said that moving to annual winter lockdowns would be a mistake. He explained:

This time last year, there were over 2,000 people being admitted. So we’re in a very different place with the presence of vaccines, the presence of the boosters, antivirals on board, and you have to reflect on that information.

We’re in deep, deep trouble here of potentially talking ourselves into annual winter lockdown. Because what happens is this is as good as it gets.

Updated

Johnson calls cabinet meeting as ministers consider further Covid measures

According to the Sun’s Harry Cole, confirmed by the BBC, Boris Johnson is chairing a cabinet meerting at 2pm. Cabinet does not normally meet on a Monday, so this will be an emergency Covid one.

People queuing at Junction Place, Edinburgh, outside a vaccination centre.
People queuing at Junction Place, Edinburgh, outside a vaccination centre.
 Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Starmer urges PM to produce plan for further Covid measures, accusing him of 'vacuum of leadership'

In an interview with broadcasters this morning Keir Starmer said Boris Johnson should produce a plan for dealing with Covid. Labour was ready to support further measures, he said. But the government needed to produce a plan.

Starmer said “obsession with party management” was holding the government back. That was the wrong priority, he said. He went on:

We don’t have access to all the information the prime minister and the government have got. They’ve got that information. I think people are crying out for some leadership, they want us to say to the prime minister, ‘Where are you? Come up with a plan – don’t hint at restrictions – come up with a plan. Let us see [it].’ And we the opposition should say, as we’ve said before, if it’s a plan that we think is right and in the public interest, we will support it.

UPDATE: Starmer also accused Johnson of a vaccum of leadership. He said:

What I want to see is a government, a prime minster, that gets a grip, that puts a plan forward that we can all get behind. But where is he? There’s a vacuum of leadership at the moment.

The infighting is going on in the Tory party when the focus should really be on the public interest and public health. At the moment, my frustration is that the prime minister is completely absent.

Updated

Frost's resignation has weakend UK's negotiating position with EU over NI protocol, says DUP leader

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, told the BBC this morning that he thought the resignation of David Frost as Brexit minister had weakened the government’s negotiating position with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol. He said:

From the conversations I had with Lord Frost, he was concerned that there is still a very substantial gap between the EU and the UK in the negotiations. He felt, I think, that we were fast approaching the time when the UK government needed to take unilateral action.

I do think that it harms the government’s position when you lose your chief negotiator in these circumstances and I think that the prime minister needs to get to grips with this issue.

Donaldson also said that, unless the EU agrees to UK demands for changes to the protocol, Johnson should trigger article 16, suspending parts of it, early in the new year. He said:

In July the government accepted that the conditions had been met to trigger article 16 and for the UK government to take unilateral action to remove the barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain ...

I think we have reached the point now where if we don’t get progress then the UK government has to call it, and that is why I am saying the prime minister is faced with a choice, and I think that choice will come very early in the new year.

This can’t go on. I am saying to the prime minister, it is time for you to act, this is simply unacceptable.

Updated

Starmer criticises PM for missing Cobra meeting on Covid yesterday

Keir Starmer has criticised Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, for missing yesterday’s meeting of Cobra, the government’s emergency committee, which was discussing Covid.

Updated

Here is a question from below the line.

And here is an answer, of sorts. This is the readout that the Cabinet Office sent out yesterday evening.

This afternoon Steve Barclay, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, chaired a constructive Cobr [sic - it is the media who call it Cobra, not government] meeting between the UK government and the devolved administrations to discuss potential workforce disruption arising from the omicron variant, and plans to prepare for that. They agreed to continue to monitor the emerging data over the coming days, working closely with businesses and public agencies across the UK to understand the impact on industry and services.

During the meeting the UK government announced it would be doubling funding for the devolved administrations – meaning they can now spend an additional £860m, up from the initial £430m announced earlier this week.

The UK government and the devolved administrations agreed it was important to continue to work together and have regular discussions.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, questioned whether the money for Scotland was new.

'Inaction no longer an option' – Labour calls for further measures for England after Christmas

In her interview on the Today programme this morning Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, implied that Labour does not favour the introduction of further Covid measures before Christmas.

Asked if Labour favoured restrictions for England for Christmas Day, she replied:

I want everything to be done to protect the family Christmas. And that is what I think mums and dads and grandparents around the country are desperate to hear from the government now, what can be done to protect that.

Reeves also said that the latest Covid numbers were “alarming” and said: “Anybody who has looked at them with any seriousness knows that inaction is no longer an option.” She went on:

And I would like to do what is necessary to protect the family Christmas and that means listening to the scientists about what can be done to ensure that people can meet up for that limited period of time.

But in Wales, for example, they’ve got a roadmap for straight after Christmas of closing down some of those biggest venues.

In backing further measures taking effect in England just after Christmas, Labour is in line with what Sage is demanding. See 10.33am.

Reeves also said the government should improve sick pay, to make it easier for people to isolate, and focus on improving ventilation.

Rachel Reeves
Rachel Reeves Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Updated

What Sage is calling for

With ministers considering what further Covid measures they may announce, it is worth recalling what Sage, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, is recommending. Here is the key extract from the minutes (pdf) of a meeting held on Thursday last week. The minutes were released on Saturday. They say:

Without intervention beyond those measures already in place (‘plan B’), modelling indicates a peak of at least 3,000 hospital admissions per day in England. Some scenarios have significantly worse outcomes during the first few months of 2022 but there are many uncertainties. If the aim is to reduce the levels of infection in the population and prevent hospitalisations reaching these levels, more stringent measures would need to be implemented very soon.

The earlier interventions happen the greater the effect they will have (high confidence). This may also mean that they can be kept in place for a shorter duration. Illustrative scenarios from SPI-M-O suggest that measures equivalent to those in place after step 2 or step 1 of the roadmap in England, if enacted early enough, could substantially reduce the potential peak in hospital admissions and infections compared with plan B alone (medium confidence). The timing of such measures is crucial. Delaying until 2022 would greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions and make it is less likely that these would prevent considerable pressure on health and care settings.

A reversion to steps 1 or 2 from the roadmap out of lockdown would feel to many like a return to lockdown.

The Sage scientists are often criticised by Tory MPs for allegedly usurping the rule of ministers and this advice is phrased in such a way as to imply that Sage is not telling ministers what they must do (“If the aim ... more stringent measures would need” etc).

But the minutes also make it clear that Sage does want to see new measures coming into force before 2022. Boris Johnson will face strong criticism from his party if he endorses any further restrictions, but delaying their introduction until after Christmas would somewhat lessen the political backlash.

Updated

This morning Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy PM, said that ministers had not yet taken a decision about further Covid measures. According to a report by Charles Hymas and Tony Diver in the Daily Telegraph, confirmed by the BBC, ministers are considering three options, ranging from exhortation (similar to the approach in Scotland) to lockdown.

The Telegraph reports:

The Telegraph understands that the prime minister has been presented with three options drawn up by officials for further restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron.

The lowest level of intervention would see families asked to limit indoor contacts, without legal enforcement.

However, Mr Johnson is also weighing up option two, which would mandate curbs on household mixing, the return of social distancing and an 8pm curfew on pubs and restaurants. Option three is the return to full lockdown.

Presenting ministers with three options, one of which seems unduly complacent and one of which seems unduly coercive, is one of the oldest tricks in the Whitehall book for officials minded to steer policy in a particular direction. Option two often seems the best bet.

Updated

Frost refuses to say if he thinks more cabinet ministers will resign over Covid restrictions

David Frost has given a briefing interview this morning to a broadcast journalist following his resignation as Brexit minister at the weekend. Here are the key points.

  • Lord Frost claimed his resignation was over policy, not over Boris Johnson’s leadership. He said:

This is absolutely not about leadership. This is about policy differences. I’m absolutely confident that this country has got a great future under Boris Johnson’s leadership if we can get the policies right.

This seemed to be the main point that Frost wanted to make, and it was clearly intended to be supportive. Perhaps he has been concerned by some of the reports suggesting his departure was a grievous blow to Johnson. But the problem with his argument is that policy is a matter of leadership; a different leader might choose a different policy.

  • He claimed that he did not resign because of differences over Brexit policy. After saying how closely he had worked with Boris Johnson, he went on:

We have never disagreed in any way about Brexit policy. Right up to the last day we have been absolutely aligned on this and Liz Truss [the foreign secretary, who has taken over from him as chief Brexit negotiator], I’m pretty sure, is going to do a great job.

In his resignation letter (pdf) Frost cited two policy issues that he said had prompted his resignation; Covid restrictions, and the “current direction of travel”, in terms of taxation and regulation, generally. But many commentators thought Frost was being disingenuous, and that a dispute over Brexit policy was the key factor. This is what George Parker, the FT’s political editor, posted on Twitter on Saturday night.

And here is the start of a Twitter thread on Frost’s resignation from Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a thinktank.

And here is one of Grant’s conclusions.

  • Frost repeated the point he made in his resignation letter about his resignation being driven by his opposition to Covid restrictions.
  • He denied a claim that the timing was designed to cause maximum damage. He said he intended to quit in the new year, but that it was brought forward because of a leak.
  • He refused to say if he thought more cabinet ministers might resign over Covid restrictions. Asked if there would be further resignations, he replied:

I can’t speak for anybody else. I can only say what I think, which is that I don’t support coercive policies on Covid. The prime minister’s got some very difficult decisions to take and I’m sure he’ll be thinking very hard of them.

Updated

Labour ridicules No 10 picture shows staff meeeting, saying wine, cheese and family means it wasn't work

Good morning. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, was doing broadcast interviews for Labour this morning and of course she was asked about the Guardian picture showing No 10 staff holding what looks very much like a drinks party in the garden at Downing Street, when social gatherings like this were not allowed.

No 10 says it was a work meeting. But Reeves ridiculed this claim. When it was put to her on the Today programme that staff in the picture were at work, she replied:

I don’t know what you do at work, but I don’t spend my time drinking glasses of wine and eating cheese ... I don’t take my husband to work either.

Carrie Johnson, the PM’s wife, is pictured at the gathering. Reeves went on:

That wasn’t a picture of people at work. That was a picture of people enjoying themselves, and not just with colleagues, but also with family as well. So, yes I do think there is evidence of law breaking, not just on this occasion, but on multiple occasions.

Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, has been on the airwaves for the government this morning and, on the Downing Street picture, he stuck to the line that it was a work gathering – although he also road-tested the novel argument that it could not have been a party because people were wearing suits. He told Times Radio.

The point I’d make is the rules that you were referring to were all the social mixing rules. This was not a social gathering. It is palpably not a social gathering, because you had people in work suits, following meetings that they were having at work.

Most of the questions in the Raab interviews, though, were not about the picture, but about whether or not the government will announce fresh Covid restrictions before Christmas. But in response to these questions, almost nothing he said took us on much from what we learnt when Sajid Javid, the health secretary, was on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday not ruling this out. “I’m not going to trail things where decisions haven’t been made,” Raab told Today.

By the end of the day the position might be clearer. We will get a lobby briefing at 11.30am, and the BBC says it is possible there might be a press conference later, although this has not been confirmed.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com

Updated

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The Conversation
The Conversation
‘Death hunted him since he was a kid’: how Lamar Odom survived to become a villain in his own tale
A new documentary charts the tragic events that led to the former NBA star overdosing in a Nevada brothel – and what came next
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Manhattan taco spot defeats German tourist who filed $100k lawsuit after their ‘dangerous’ hot salsa gave him ‘diarrhea for days’
It was his first time ever eating tacos!
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