Christmas cancelled for millions
Boris Johnson effectively cancelled Christmas for nearly 20 million people yesterday by placing them in new draconian lockdown measures to combat a new more infectious strain of coronavirus.
The prime minister announced that people living in London and eastern and south east England will no longer be able to spend Christmas with people outside of their household by putting them into a new Tier 4 set of restrictions.
An estimated 18 million people in these areas will effectively return today to the lockdown rules enforced in November, although people will be allowed to go to church. It comes just three days after the prime minister pledged not to cancel Christmas.
Previous plans in England to allow so-called five-day
Christmas bubbles were also scrapped for the rest of England, with those living in Tiers 1,2 and 3 allowed to gather with three households for Christmas Day only.
Johnson told the nation ‘‘we cannot continue with Christmas as planned’’ after he was presented with new scientific evidence suggesting a new variant strain of coronavirus was up to 70 per cent more transmissible.
He faced fury among Conservative MPs for imposing the new restrictions, as politicians who have been fighting Johnson’s attempts to impose further lockdowns on the country called for resignations from the Cabinet.
Johnson said he was announcing the measures ‘‘with a very heavy heart, adding: ‘‘I know how much emotion people invest in this time of year, and how important it is for grandparents to see their grandchildren, and for families to be together.
‘‘So I know how disappointing this will be, but we have said throughout this pandemic that we must and we will be guided by the science.
‘‘When the science changes, we must change our response. When the virus changes its method of attack, we must change our method of defence.’’
Johnson added: ‘‘Without action the evidence suggests that infections would soar, hospitals would become overwhelmed and many thousands more would lose their lives.’’ His message to Britons was ‘‘to lift a glass to those who aren’t there in the knowledge that it’s precisely because they’re not there to celebrate Christmas with you this year, that we all have a better chance that they’ll be there next year’’.
Non-essential shops in Tier 4 will be shut from today, denying millions the chance to do their Christmas shopping. Economists said it would cost the High Street up to £7 billion (NZ$13b) in lost purchases.
The new restrictions raise the prospect of police officers knocking on people’s doors over the festive period to check that the rules are not being broken, although officials said they expected police not to enforce the rules on Christmas Day ‘‘very heavily’’.