BUBBLES WITH THE BAUBLES
■ UP TO FOUR HOUSEHOLDS MAY BE ALLOWED TO MIX THIS CHRISTMAS ■ TOP LEVEL TALKS TO HAMMER OUT A UK-WIDE EASING OF RULES
CHRISTMAS lockdown rules are set to be eased to allow some families to mix during the festive season.
Boris Johnson will today announce new rules for when England’s lockdown ends on Wednesday next week after leaders of the UK’s four nations agreed to a break.
The Cabinet Office said last night that ‘some limited additional household bubbling’ would be permitted over the Christmas period for ‘a small number of days’, meaning people from different homes can mix.
Reports suggest up to four households will be able to form a social bubble from between Christmas Eve and December 28. Mr Johnson is expected to reveal tougher tier systems when the lockdown ends.
The prime minister is understood to be preparing to unveil a plan for pubs to call last orders at 10pm but extending closing time until 11pm so people get an extra hour to finish their food and drink.
His announcement comes after Britain’s official coronavirus death toll rose by 398 yesterday to 55,024. The figure includes 141 omitted from Saturday in error.
Another 18,662 cases were recorded – taking the UK’s total infections past 1.5million.
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove held talks with Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford and Northern Ireland’s leader Arlene Foster on Saturday. They agreed that limited
‘bubbling’ should be allowed briefly over Christmas.
In a statement, the Cabinet Office said: ‘Ministers reiterated the importance of allowing families and friends to meet in a careful and limited way, while recognising this will not be a normal festive period and the risks of transmission remain very real.’
However, the public ‘will be advised to remain cautious and that, wherever possible, people should avoid travelling and minimise social contact’.
Details of the new tiers will be announced today and details of which areas they will apply are to be revealed on Thursday.
Mr Johnson, who is still self-isolating and will address the Commons virtually, runs the risk of a rebellion from backbench MPs when they vote on the restrictions scheduled to come into force on December 2.
The Tory party’s Coronavirus Recovery Group resisted new curbs, warning it ‘cannot support’ a tiered approach without ministers showing they ‘will save more lives than they cost’.
Its warning came in a letter to the
PM, said to have been signed by 70 Tory MPs. Meanwhile, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) is expected to publish papers today saying the previous tiers were not strong enough.
Sage member Prof Calum Semple told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge ‘we can’t ban Christmas’ because it would ‘ simply lead to breaches’.
The government has been told that, for every day measures are eased, there will need to be another five days of tougher restrictions.
Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, another Sage member, said it was ‘perfectly reasonable’ to return to a tiered approach.
But he told Times Radio ‘there will be a price to pay’ for national easing over Christmas, which includes a rise in infections.