UK Covid live: ministers ‘closely looking at the data’ before deciding on circuit breaker for England, says minister

There would be “economic consequences” to further Covid restrictions, a minister has stated as he said Parliament is not yet due to be recalled to discuss new measures.

Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast:

The prime minister has given a commitment that where there are additional regulations bought forward that parliament would be recalled in order that members of parliament can scrutinise and debate those issues, but we are not at that stage.

We are looking closely at the data and we need to recognise there are economic consequences to further restrictions.

There is much that we still don’t know but we are still looking at that data on what are very finely-balanced decisions.

Barclay said people should have a “cautious” Christmas, according to a government minister who has changed his own plans.

He told LBC he had downsized the number of family members at his Christmas celebrations this year, with only his in-laws attending.

The cabinet office minister said:

We are saying to people that they should continue with Christmas but do so in a cautious way. That is what I will be doing with my own family.

We can all protect our families and friends by having the booster.

When asked what a cautious Christmas is, he added: “I think it is thinking about how many people we need to see. Some of my family won’t be coming over at Christmas. My wife’s parents will be joining us but others will not.”

New Covid restrictions are unlikely to be imposed before Christmas amid deep cabinet divisions but Boris Johnson warned further measures remain on the table, with data on the threat of Omicron monitored “hour by hour”.

The prime minister was accused of failing to follow scientists’ advice on the need for immediate restrictions while leaving millions of people and businesses in limbo after a two-hour cabinet meeting ended with no decision on Monday.

During the meeting, scientific advisers briefed ministers on the latest data including a steep rise in hospitalisations in London, with the UK’s highest number of Omicron cases, while 91,743 people tested positive for Covid on Monday across the UK.

Afterwards, the prime minister said the arguments for and against stricter measures were “finely balanced” and the situation was “extremely difficult”.

Read the full story by my colleagues Aubrey Allegretti, Peter Walker and Sarah Butler from last night here:

The effect that lockdowns have on people’s lives is as bad as going to hospital, Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned amid the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and uncertainty over whether or not new restrictions will be brought in.

The former leader of the conservative party told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

We need to understand the effect of lockdown is dramatic across so many areas of people’s lives, which equates to the same as people going into hospital.

He said the government to make a decision about further restrictions only when there is a “wider range of information on the effect of lockdown”.

Duncan Smith said:

We do not want to end up where we were last Christmas and we do have a significantly vaccinated population and that has a huge effect on hospitalisation, so we are under different circumstances than we were last January.

The government will “say more” about its discussions with business leaders calling for more Covid financial support later today, a minister has said.

When asked about measures to help businesses struggling this Christmas due to Covid restrictions, cabinet office minister Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast:

The chancellor was talking to industry leaders about this very issue last night. We will say more about this later today.

We recognise obviously we are keen to keep businesses open and businesses should continue to plan for the bookings they have.

We absolutely recognise that through Plan B and the behaviour change there has been an impact on those bookings.

The government will “look closely at the data” about whether or not to have a circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas, a minister has said.

When asked if the measure was being considered, cabinet office minister Steve Barclay told LBC Radio:

We are looking closely at the data, there is much we still don’t know about the severity of Omicron, how it leads to hospital admissions.

We are looking particularly at the London data, there is a higher prevalence of Omicron particularly in London.

Asked if he had been among members of the cabinet calling for more data before new restrictions were introduced, Barclay said:

I think it is right that the cabinet has a full and robust discussion.

That is what people would expect. It is right that we look at the balance between protecting lives and livelihoods.

Steve Barclay told BBC Breakfast that the prime minister has given a commitment that where there are additional regulations bought forward that parliament would be recalled in order that MPs can scrutinise and debate those issues, but he added: “We are not at that stage”.

He said:

We are looking closely at the data and we need to recognise there are economic consequences to further restrictions.

There is much that we still don’t know but we are still looking at that data on what are very finely-balanced decisions.

Meanwhile, scientists have reacted with dismay to Boris Johnson’s decision not to impose fresh restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron, emphasising that waiting until the new year would “almost certainly be too late to have a material impact on the epidemic”.