Have yourself A MERRY LITTLE XMAS
PM URGES CAUTION AS WELSH AND SCOTS GO THEIR OWN WAY
BORIS JOHNSON has refused to scrap controversial festive bubbles – and instead urged Britain to have a ‘merry little Christmas’.
Despite a surge of 612 Covid-19 deaths and 25,161 new cases, the prime minister said he would not ‘criminalise people’s long-made plans’ but advised ‘extreme caution’.
Insisting the legal limit of three households mixing for five days was a ‘maximum, not a target’, he added: ‘People should think very, very hard about coming in under those limits. We don’t want to ban Christmas and I think that would be frankly inhuman.
‘Have yourselves a merry little Christmas and, this year, I do mean little.’
He had told MPs there was ‘unanimous agreement across the UK’. But a short while later, Welsh leader Mark Drakeford cut the maximum number of households from three to two, with a new lockdown from December 28.
Then Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said families there should meet for only one day out of five – and not stay the night unless ‘unavoidable’.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner last night accused Mr Johnson of ‘dangerous, life-threatening incompetence.’
She said: ‘After telling millions of
people to make plans for Christmas, and lifting restrictions for Christmas, the prime minister is now telling people not to do what he told them to do.’
Sage scientist Prof Andrew Hayward called the plans ‘reckless’ adding: ‘Many people will take the message that if the government says it is okay then it is safe to do this – in many circumstances it clearly isn’t safe.’
But his Sage colleague Prof Graham Medley said: ‘It’s very hard to predict and say “Oh yes, this will be a disaster” or “nothing is going to happen” because it depends on what people do.’
As he appeared alongside the PM, chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty had admitted extra deaths were unavoidable. ‘This is not a moment to relax, quite the reverse,’ he said.
‘You wouldn’t drive at 70mph on an icy road. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
‘Keep it small. Keep it short. Keep it local. And think of the most vulnerable.’
Mr Johnson had suggested that people should start isolating now before seeing relatives, and he agreed overnight stays should be avoided. He said he was sure after a Christmas unlike any ‘since the time of Cromwell’, next year’s would be ‘normal for every family’ in the country. ‘We recognise the human spirit will naturally want to celebrate Christmas and you cannot constrain people too much,’ he said. Housing minister Robert Jenrick had earlier suggested putting off reunions, adding: ‘Easter can be the new Christmas’. The government will announce today if areas of England have changed tiers. As yesterday’s surge took the UK’s death toll over 65,000, the World Health Organization predicted another wave after Christmas and advised people to wear masks when seeing relatives indoors.
‘It may feel awkward but it contributes to ensuring everyone remains safe,’ a spokesman said.