England will enter a strengthened three-tiered system of local restrictions when the national lockdown ends on 2 December, Downing Street has said. Boris Johnson is expected to detail his plan for winter, which includes details on how families can see their loved ones at Christmas, to MPs on Monday.
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The “Covid winter plan” is expected to place more areas into the higher tiers to keep the virus under control to ensure further restrictions are not needed, No 10 said. And while some local measures will be the same as those in the previous system, some tiers will be strengthened to safeguard the gains made during the national lockdown.
The cabinet is expected to discuss and sign off the plan on Sunday before Johnson announces it to parliament the following day.
The plan will set out how people will be able to spend Christmas, but ministers have made clear that the festive season will be different from normal, with some restrictions expected to remain in place. Ministers will set out what tier each area will be placed into on Thursday and MPs are expected to be given the vote to approve the new tiering system, as promised by Johnson, in the days before it comes into force on 2 December.
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They are optimistic that restrictions can be gradually reduced in the run-up to spring, providing vaccines are approved by regulators, allowing a plan for the rollout to begin next month before a wider programme in the new year.
But the prime minister will be wary of a rebellion from backbench Tory MPs who are opposed to new restrictions. During a vote on the current four-week system earlier this month, 32 Conservatives rebelled to oppose the measures and 17 more, including former prime minister Theresa May, abstained.
Subsequently, the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) led by the former chief whip, Mark Harper, and ex-Brexit minister, Steve Baker, formed to resist new measures. The CRG on Saturday warned that they “cannot support” a tiered approach unless the government produces evidence to show measures “will save more lives than they cost”.
The warning against the measures inflicting “huge health and economic costs” came in a letter to the prime minister, which sources close to the group said had been signed by 70 Conservative MPs, though the group’s leaders were the only signatories identified.
Downing Street will hope an easing at Christmas, potential vaccines on the horizon and new scientific evidence will lessen the scale of a rebellion, with the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) expected to publish papers on Monday stating that the previous tiers were not strong enough.
But the CRG letter said: “We cannot live under such a series of damaging lockdowns and apparently arbitrary restrictions and expect our constituents to be grateful for being let out to enjoy the festive season, only to have strict restrictions imposed on them afterwards that cause them health problems and destroy their livelihood.”
The plans emerged as the government announced a further 341 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, bringing the UK total to 54,626.
Labour has so far been supportive of the need for restrictions to slow the spread of Covid-19 and a full-scale Commons defeat on the plan is unlikely. But the shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, in a speech ahead of the Downing Street announcement, said the nation could not be allowed to return “to the shambles we had before this lockdown” and called for “clarity” on economic support.
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A No 10 spokeswoman said: “Everyone’s efforts during the current national restrictions have helped bring the virus back under control, slowed its spread and eased pressures on the NHS.
“But the prime minister and his scientific advisers are clear the virus is still present – and without regional restrictions it could quickly run out of control again before vaccines and mass testing have had an effect. That would put in jeopardy the progress the country has made, and once again risk intolerable pressure on the NHS.”
A Labour spokesman said: “We will look closely at any proposals the government brings forward” but called for “proper packages of support” for businesses that are unable to fully reopen. The previous system was failing – simply returning to it without other measures in place will not work.”
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