UK Coronavirus Live: Trying To Reach Near-Normal Christmas Hazards ‘Throw Fuel On Fire’, Says Sage Advisor | Politics

Good Morning. With ministers increasingly focused on the Covid rules that will apply over Christmas and the extent to which families will be allowed to reunite, Gordon brown, the former prime minister, has joined the debate, urging Boris Johnson to accept now that England needs stricter rules now to allow restrictions to be relaxed over Christmas.

Brown told Sky News:

I discovered that as prime minister you have to be two steps ahead of events. It cannot be behind the curve. You should always be anticipating the next problem. And what you have to do, Boris Johnson, is to say, ‘Look, if there’s any question about whether we can ease the restrictions at Christmas, we have to act now.

And he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

Put the measures now in the coming days that allow us to make a reasoned decision about what we will do on Christmas week. I think you have to act now. Talking about what happens after Christmas is not as good as talking about what Boris Johnson could do today.

If you are concerned that we may not be able to relax on Christmas, you should step up the measures now. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Boris Johnson have to come together and find a basis on which we can have common rules so that people can, if possible, travel to see their loved ones in different parts of the country.

Government scientific advisers have already said publicly that any relaxation of restrictions during Christmas will have to be offset by stricter rules at another time. But Brown appears to be advocating for firmer rules now, or early December, in the same way that in Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has announced a close shutdown for part of the country in part to create room for looser rules at Christmas.

Ministers are due to announce next week what will happen when the blockade across England ends on December 2 and, when asked to confirm that what comes next will have to be stricter than what was in effect before the start of the blockade, they claim it is too. early to make that decision. Brown says they should move on.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30 am: The ONS publishes its regular figures on Covid and the economy.

11am: NHS Test and Trace publishes its latest performance figures.

Around 12 pm: Boris Johnson makes a statement to MPs announcing a £ 16.5bn increase in defense spending over four years.

12.20 h: Nicola Sturgeon attends questions from the Prime Minister in the Scottish Parliament.

Around 1:30 p.m.: Nigel Huddleston, the sports minister, makes a statement to MPs on financial aid for sports.

14:00 h: Public Health England publishes its weekly Covid surveillance report.

17:00 h: Downing Street is expected to hold a press conference.

Politics Live is now doubling down as the UK’s coronavirus live blog and given the way the Covid crisis overshadows everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we’ll also cover non-Covid political stories, like the defense announcement, and when they seem more important or interesting, they will take precedence.

Here’s our global coronavirus live blog.

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