Frost quits Cabinet as Johnson considers Christmas lockdown
♦ Chaos at No 10 as Brexit negotiator leaves post over Covid restrictions ♦ Javid – curbs can’t wait for new data
LORD FROST quit the Cabinet last night over concerns about Boris Johnson’s Covid-19 curbs and the Government’s “direction of travel”, as the PM considered calls for a third national lockdown beginning as soon as this week.
The Cabinet Office minister, who was leading Mr Johnson’s post-Brexit negotiations with the European Union, resigned over the Government’s Plan B Covid measures, having held private concerns for months about coronavirus restrictions and the Government’s economic policy, including its planned National Insurance hike. In his resignation letter last night, Lord Frost reminded Mr Johnson of his pledge that the lifting of restrictions in the summer would be “irreversible”.
He also urged the Prime Minister to “deliver on the opportunities” of Brexit by moving “as fast as possible” to “a lightly regulated, low-tax, entrepreneurial economy”.
The resignation of such a close ally creates a major new crisis for the Prime Minister. His concerns about the direction of the Government echo the views of many Tory backbenchers.
Last night one senior Conservative said: “The trouble is Frost speaks for the party. This is the beginning of the end.” A senior minister said they were not at all surprised at Lord Frost quitting the Cabinet, adding: “I know he opposed Plan B. The PM’s supporters are the ones who are least keen on the restrictions. The ones who want to undermine him want the restrictions. Frost going just proves that.” Lord Frost initially offered to resign earlier this month over Plan B, and had been persuaded to stay on until the New Year. He quit with immediate effect last night after news of his resignation leaked.
Lord Frost’s resignation emerged as the Prime Minister was weighing up a “sliding scale” of new Covid-19 restrictions, with Sajid Javid warning that ministers may have to introduce new measures on the basis of “early and patchy” data.
As the Government’s scientific advisers called for an “immediate” curtailment of indoor mixing to combat the spread of omicron, the Prime Minister was considering a range of potential measures, from new guidance on restricting social contact, to a third national lockdown. Lord Frost, a former adviser to Mr Johnson during his time as Foreign Secretary, was among a series of Cabinet members opposed to new restrictions. Last weekend it separately emerged that a senior official had briefed European journalists that the Government was planning to back down on its demands to free Northern Ireland from the oversight of the European Court of Justice, a significant demand that Lord Frost had set out in the talks.
Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, also resisted the push for further Covid measures yesterday in a conference call convened by Mr Johnson. Ministers were told that 62 per cent of Covid-19 cases in England – and 80 per cent in London – were now omicron, with the capital said to be “just a few days ahead” of other regions. Last night one of those on the call said: “Today’s call doesn’t make any difference ... 46 per cent of people are vaccinated, and we started with the older groups, so why would anyone want to lock down again?”
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Health Secretary admits there is “much we still don’t know” about the omicron variant, but said that the “most important trading decisions” he made as an investment banker were before there was “clear” data, at which point, “it may be too late to react”.
His intervention exposes a significant divide in Cabinet, with Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Leader of the Commons also said to be opposed to adopting new restrictions in the absence of more data, along with Mr Sunak and Lord Frost.
Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, is said to favour further restrictions to curb the spread of omicron, along with Mr Javid.
One minister claimed: “Michael Gove wants to lock everyone up forever.”
Minutes from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) released yesterday raised the prospect of a second cancelled Christmas after the group called for an immediate curtailment of indoor mixing in order to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed.
In a meeting on Thursday the scientific advisers concluded that waiting until after Christmas to impose restrictions would be too late. The group described indoor mixing as “the biggest risk factor” in the spread of omicron, suggesting “reducing group sizes, increasing physical distancing, reducing duration of contacts and closing high risk premises”.
It is understood that senior government scientists have suggested to ministers that restrictions on indoor gatherings should last until two weeks after everyone has had the chance to take a booster. That would mean late January at the earliest.
Yesterday, the UK Health Security Agency recorded 10,059 cases of the new variant – three times as many as on Friday. The number of overall Covid infections exceeded 90,000 for the second day running. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, declared a major
incident in London yesterday amid “huge concern” at the spread of omicron. But Cabinet members were said to have warned that the country risked falling into a cycle of annual winter restrictions if the Government continued to resort to draconian measures even when much of the population has received a Covid-19 vaccine.
Another of those on the call said: “Scientists are telling us we need to go into lockdown. But we can’t make the right decision either way without the right data.”
Health officials have said definitive data on the link between omicron and hospitalisation is not expected until the new year, but Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, is said to have suggested that some new data may be available in a few days. Mr Javid said time was needed to rollout boosters, which provide “strong protection against omicron”.
Yesterday it emerged officials were drawing up plans for a two-week “circuit breaker” which would ban people from meeting members of other households indoors. Government sources insisted that no specific plans for new measures had been submitted to Cabinet ministers or Mr Johnson.
Ministers were sceptical about whether locking down for a fortnight would outweigh the damage from restrictions.
Senior government figures believe a longer lockdown would have a significant effect on reducing transmission and preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed, but many ministers and MPs are opposed to locking down. Downing Street aides were discussing options for slowing the spread of omicron in the face of calls by Sage and warnings about overwhelming the NHS.