The Government is to embark on a record-breaking Covid booster programme, in a new race against time to avoid future lockdowns.

       Boris Johnson's winter plan announcement is expected to confirm a widespread acceleration of the vaccine programme, ahead of what is widely acknowledged will be a challenging winter with flu and other respiratory diseases exacerbating the pressure on the NHS.

       The Covid winter plan also will keep restrictions, including future lockdowns, in reserve.

       Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said planning for the third round of vaccinations for the over-50s was "well under way", stressing that immunisations would be "the primary way we manage this".

       Ministers were hoping "to break the record we set in the first vaccination programme," Mr Zahawi told Sky News.

       "Lockdowns will be an absolutely last resort," he added. "As we embark on the winter months, the virus has an in-built advantage whether it be flu or Covid. It would be foolhardy to suggest this thing has already transitioned from pandemic to endemic, so we have to have contingency planning."

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       A total of 659 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending September 3 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

       This is down one per cent on the previous week, although the ONS said the number was affected by the bank holiday on August 30, when register offices were likely to be closed.

       Around one in 13 (7.5 per cent) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to September 3 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

       Boris Johnson is due to set out his Covid winter plan today, vowing (but notably, not guaranteeing) to avoid any more lockdowns.

       But will he succeed? Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, this morning insisted the booster campaign would speed the "transition from pandemic to endemic status" - but even he could not confirm that this would happen before Christmas.

       Scientists are warning of tough months ahead, with at least one suggesting that opening up fully in the summer

       Has enough been done to prevent future lockdowns, or are we heading for another one? Have your say in the poll below.

       The UK faces a "rough winter" due to the combination of coronavirus, flu and other respiratory conditions that will make a comeback, a Sage scientist has warned.

       Calum Semple, professor of child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool, told BBC Breakfast face masks and other interventions may be resurrected as "some degree of regional common sense approach".

       He added: "Now that we're opening up society, we've got to... live with not just Covid but the flu will come back, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) bronchiolitis will come back, so I think we're going to have a bit of a rough winter."

       Asked how Christmas might compare to last year, he said: "I really don't know... but I can predict that the NHS is going to have a really tough time and it wouldn't surprise me if local directors of public health may be suggesting use of face masks in shops and on public transport."

       Sir Keir Starmer is "not a man of his word" and risks being seen as someone who cannot be trusted by the wider public, Len McCluskey has said.

       The former Unite general secretary has launched a blistering attack on the Labour leader, writing in the Guardian that his tenure has been "a tale of opportunities wasted", in which he has "squandered the goodwill that greeted his arrival" by waging an "internal war" against the left of the party.

       Mr McCluskey particularly attacked Sir Keir's " destructive decision" to suspend Jeremy Corbyn last October, which he described as "a bad dream". Despite claims to the contrary, the Labour leader personally pulled the trigger and "reneged on our deal" to reinstate him, the ex-union boss alleged.

       "That was when I lost my personal relationship with Starmer. I could no longer trust him. He was not a man of his word," Mr McCluskey wrote.

       "Starmer’s response to his party’s poor position has been as wrongheaded as it is dishonourable... If he is not careful, he risks becoming fixed in the public’s mind as someone who can’t be trusted."

       Boris Johnson is mourning the loss of his mother, Charlotte, after she died at the age of 79.

       Charlotte Johnson Wahl, a professional painter, died “suddenly and peacefully” at a London hospital on Monday, the family said.

       The Prime Minister has described her as the “supreme authority” in his family and has credited her with instilling in him the equal value of every human life.

       Mrs Johnson-Wahl, meanwhile, described her eldest son as “soft-hearted” in 2015 and in 2008 said she felt “protective of him” as he tackled ever greater professional challenges.

       Read more here.

       A Labour MP has said future lockdowns cannot be "entirely" ruled out, but said the Government is "right" to pursue a booster vaccine programme.

       Pat McFadden, shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: "Nobody wants to go back to lockdowns after the experience of the last 18 months. We've been in and out of this three times now and nobody wants to see a fourth.

       "You can't rule it out entirely because, as the old cliche goes, prediction is a dangerous game, especially when it is about the future.

       "One thing we do know is that winter is always a tough time for the NHS, so I think it is time to reboot the vaccine effort - we have fallen behind some other countries.

       "We're expecting an announcement on booster jabs today - that's right."

       A winter lockdown would be an "absolutely last resort", the vaccines minister has said - but he could not rule out the possibility that Christmas could be cancelled again.

       Speaking to Sky News, Nadhim Zahawi stressed that the "massive booster campaign" would protect the most vulnerable from infection.

       But asked whether he could guarantee families could spend Christmas together, the Conservative MP said: "The important thing to remember is that, as we embark on the winter months, viruses have an inbuilt advantage, whether it be flu or the Covid virus.

       "As Chris Whitty set out yesterday, it would be foolhardy to think this thing has already transitioned from pandemic to endemic.

       "The direction we're taking - a massive booster campaign, a varied surveillance system, a really fit for purpose test and trace system - that is where we think we will be able to end up... but of course, we have to have contingency planning."

       The booster programme will be the "final piece of the jigsaw" in dealing with the pandemic, Nadhim Zahawi has said.

       The vaccines minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The JCVI recommended in the interim advice that we look at boosting the most vulnerable to Covid and of course flu as well.

       "Where possible we will try and co-administer, with one caveat - with flu, GPs and pharmacies, which are the backbone of the vaccination programme, can rapidly vaccinate lots of people.

       "If we are using the mNRA vaccines, Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, there is a 15-minute observation period for the Covid boost. But, wherever possible, we will try and co-administer.

       "This is probably the last piece of the jigsaw to allow us to transition this virus from pandemic to endemic and I hope by next year we will be in a position to deal with this virus with an annual inoculation programme as we do flu."

       Teachers have been threatened with legal action if they advise pupils on the Covid vaccine, a union leader has said.

       Paul Whiteman, the general secretary for the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), said that it was important that it was trained medical professionals and not teachers or school leaders who advised parents and pupils.

       He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This advice and encouragement or whatever it's to be has to come through the health service and the professionals that are trained and have the technical ability to give the advice for young people and their parents to make the decisions that will be necessary.

       "If it's done like that, hopefully we can avoid any unpleasantness in schools, but I have to say, members have received letters already from pressure groups threatening legal action against them as school leaders and teachers."

       Children will be given a "grade of competency" based on age when considering whether to override their parents' lack of consent on receiving the Covid vaccine, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has said.

       Professor Anthony Harnden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he "wouldn't feel comfortable" allowing a 12 year-old to take up their offer of a jab if their parents had refused consent, noting that "the law clearly states that the child and parent should try to come to an agreed conclusion".

       If an agreement cannot be reached "the clinician involved in administering the vaccine needs to be absolutely sure that the child is competent to make that decision", he added.

       "There will be a grade of competency from the age of 16 downwards, so 14 to 15-year-olds may be deemed competent to make that decision on their own, it's less likely that a 12 or 13-year-old will be deemed competent."

       There is a "marginal health benefit" to children being vaccinated against coronavirus, but that doesn't factor in wider issues, the deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has said.

       Professor Anthony Harnden told the BBC Today Programme that the JCVI had considered the clinical perspect, which showed a marginal benefit "because the risks of Covid to well young children is very small indeed, but the benefits of the vaccine are very small".

       He added: "We felt that on balance that we couldn't give advice based on the health benefits alone.

       "But the CMOs have re-looked at this, and they've looked at a much wider thing about educational factors which were much outside our remit - such as school infection control, social isolation, school closures - and they felt that on balance there was more of a benefit in offering the vaccination."

       Ministers failing to heed advice has pushed up the prospect of winter lockdowns, a Government scientist has warned.

       Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of Nervtag, told Sky News that current figures made it clear "we're not out of the woods and it doesn't bode well for going into winter at all."

       Prof Gupta noted that "many scientists including myself" had warned that restrictions should be lifted more slowly ahead of July 19, because it would have a knock-on effect later in the year.

       "In other words we wouldn't get away with this as a country moving into winter'.

       "And what we're seeing now is really the result of that advice not being heeded and now we're in a position where we're talking about lockdowns again," he noted. "With the correct planning, this could have been avoided."

       Children will only be able to override their parents on the Covid vaccine following a meeting with a clinician, Nadhim Zahawi has said.

       The vaccines minister told Sky News children would be given a leaflet and parents would receive information before being given a consent form.

       "On the very rare occasion where there is a difference of opinion between the parent and the 12-15 year-old, where the parent for example doesn't want to give consent but the 12-15 year-old wants to have the vaccine, then the first step is the clinician will bring the parent and the child together to see whether they can reach consent," he said.

       "If that is not possible, then if the child is deemed to be competent... then the child can have the vaccine.

       "But these are very rare occasions."

       Children aged 12-15 will be able to get their first shot of coronavirus vaccine from next week, Nadhim Zahawi has confirmed.

       The vaccines minister told BBC Breakfast: "The NHS has been making plans that will hopefully be able to see the first vaccinations take place after consent, because obviously you need the information and the letters to go out and to receive that consent, by the 22nd of this month."

       Asked when the booster programme would start to be administered, Mr Zahawi said the Prime Minister and Health Secretary Sajid Javid would be setting out more details later on Tuesday.

       A minister ha insisted there is no difference of opinion between the JVCI and chief medical officers, after the latter approved the use of Covid vaccines in children as young as 12.

       Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation "fell on the side that is marginally more beneficial to vaccinate children than not" before asking the four CMOs to consider "the wider impact" including mental health and disruption to education.

       "All four CMOs were unanimous," he added.

       "It’s not a difference of opinion, it’s beyond their remit - the JCVI," he told BBC Breakfast.

       Mr Zahawi was responding to questions about this tweet, from Marcus Fysh, calling for Prof Chris Whitty to resign.

       A minister has said he is "cautiously optimistic" that England will get through the winter without the need for another lockdown.

       Asked how confident he was that we would get through winter without lockdowns, Nadhim Zahawi told Times Radio he was "cautiously optimistic but we have to remain vigilant".

       "I am confident that we will... be able to transition this virus from pandemic to endemic status but we are constantly aware of how unpredictable this virus has been," the vaccines minister added.

       At least three rebel Conservative MPs threatened to resign from the Government over the decision to hike National Insurance to pay for social care, The Telegraph can reveal.

       The Government whips’ office was forced to telephone furious Red Wall MPs and parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) over the weekend to threaten their political careers, after they said they would rebel against the Government in Tuesday's National Insurance vote.

       Dozens of Conservatives could abstain or vote against Mr Johnson on Tuesday's bill, which will increase National Insurance payments for both employees and firms by 1.25 percentage points.

       Downing Street was on Monday night accused of trying to “rush through” the bill in an attempt to head off a more significant rebellion, while other MPs complained the Tory whips’ office was using “hardcore bullying” tactics to keep members in line.

       It's shaping up to be a busy - albeit soggy - day in Westminster, with two major statements on the Government's Covid winter plan, and a lengthy debate before MPs vote on the Health and Social Care Levy Bill.

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