UK to allow additional ‘limited’ domestic mixes during Christmas and a pub closing time at 11pm

A RELAXATION OF coronavirus restrictions “for a small number of days” over Christmas will allow for a limited level of mixing between households across the UK.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lay the groundwork for plans for tomorrow’s holiday period, as well as detailing a new, stricter three-tier system for England when its national lockdown ends on December 2.

But Johnson will not be able to say how many households will be able to mix over Christmas and for how many days restrictions will be relaxed until a later date, the Palestinian Authority news agency has understood.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove met with leaders of decentralized administrations over the weekend when they “endorsed the shared goal of facilitating some limited additional domestic bubbling over a small number of days.”

The British public will be “advised to be cautious” and told that “wherever possible, people should avoid travel and minimize social contact” according to plans expected to end this week, said a statement from his department. .

The statement also said that the UK government is in talks with Dublin about travel arrangements on the island of Ireland over Christmas.

“With regard to Northern Ireland, ministers also recognized that people will want to see family and friends across the island of Ireland, and this is the subject of discussions with the Irish government,” said the statement from the Cabinet Office.

New system

Johnson will also detail the reinforced tiered system in a statement to the House of Commons, but full details of the holiday relaxation are not expected until the prime ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland agree on the plans with their own cabinets.

It faces the threat of a revolt secondary to its “winter Covid plan” for England after dozens of Conservative MPs warned they could not endorse further restrictions without ample evidence.

Downing Street said that more areas are expected to enter higher levels or levels next month, while those levels will strengthen to safeguard gains made during the four-week lockdown.

The prime minister was warned in a letter from the Covid Recovery Group (CRG), according to a source close to the group that will be signed by 70 Conservative MPs, that he will have to provide a cost-benefit analysis to show that the restrictions “will save more. lives that cost ”.

But UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak suggested that providing the evidence they require will be a difficult task, paving the way for a significant challenge to gain Parliament’s approval for the restrictions when MPs get a vote in the days leading up to the entry into force of the restrictions.

“It is very difficult to be precise in estimating the particular impact of a one-week restriction,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

But in a move that will likely be welcomed by conservative rebels, Sunak confirmed to The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC that plans to change the curfew period for pubs and restaurants in England is “definitely something we are looking at.”

It is understood that the Prime Minister is preparing to unveil a plan so that, while the last orders must be called at 10 p.m., people will have an extra hour to finish their food and drink, and the opening hours will be extended until 11:00 pm.

Downing Street will await a relaxation on Christmas, possible vaccines on the horizon and new scientific evidence that will decrease the scale of a rebellion, and the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) is expected to publish articles tomorrow saying that previous levels were not. strong enough. .

The plans emerged when the government said another 739 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Coivd-19 through the weekend, bringing the UK total to 55,024.

Johnson will meet with his cabinet to get approval for the plans today, while ministers will set on Thursday at what level each area will be located when the shutdown ends.

Gove, Nicola Sturgeon from Scotland, Mark Drakeford from Wales and Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill from Northern Ireland “reiterated the importance of allowing families and friends to come together in a careful and limited way” at a gathering yesterday.

They also recognized that “it will not be a normal holiday period” while “transmission risks remain very real,” according to the Cabinet statement.