Boris Johnson has delayed the introduction of new Covid restrictions in England, despite warnings from scientific advisers of a coming wave of infection threatening to overwhelm the NHS.
Scientists warned that “dither” in imposing curbs on social gatherings and travel ahead of the Christmas weekend will allow the highly contagious Omicron variant to spread more fiercely, with one member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), Professor Andrew Hayward, warning of “tens of millions” of infections this winter.
And Labour said the prime minister was “too weak to stand up to his own backbenchers” following the rebellion of 99 Tory MPs against limited plan B restrictions last week, making him “unfit to lead” during the coronavirus crisis.
Meanwhile, businesses hit by a flood of cancellations and stay-at-home shoppers appealed for more financial help to avoid collapse, with nightlife representatives warning that one in three nightclubs, bars and pubs could close within a month.
Expectations of new restrictions in England were raised after Mr Johnson called an emergency meeting of cabinet following Sage advice that more stringent measures were needed “very soon” to prevent hospitalisations reaching thousands per day and that delaying until the new year would “greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions”.
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But after a marathon cabinet lasting almost three hours, the prime minister emerged to announce there would be no immediate tightening of current plan B restrictions, explaining that ministers faced a “very finely balanced” choice between protecting public health and avoiding unnecessary disruption and economic damage.
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UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux
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UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent
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UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election
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UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire
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UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle
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UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster
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UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds
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UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds,
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UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judge’s decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
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UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service
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UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine
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UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow
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UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra
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UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother
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UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square
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UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London
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UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum
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UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar
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UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week
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UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana
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UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow
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UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as “Storm Arwen” triggered a rare “red weather” warning
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UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England
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UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London
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UK news in pictures 25 November 2021 A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border
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UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London
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UK news in pictures 24 November 2021 Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel.
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UK news in pictures 23 November 2021 The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London
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UK news in pictures 22 November 2021 The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead
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UK news in pictures 21 November 2021 London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a 'March with Midwives' in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services
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UK news in pictures 20 November 2021 Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London
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UK news in pictures 19 November 2021 A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a 'wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste'
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UK news in pictures 18 November 2021 The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke
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UK news in pictures 17 November 2021 The sun rises over South Shields Lighthouse, on the North East coast of England
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UK news in pictures 16 November 2021 ancer Maithili Vijayakumar at the launch of 2021 Diwali celebrations at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh
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UK news in pictures 15 November 2021 Forensic officers work outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, following a car blast, in Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 14 November 2021 Wreaths by the Cenotaph after the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, London
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UK news in pictures 13 November 2021 Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is ending his hunger strike in central London after almost three weeks. Ratcliffe has spent 21 days camped outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London without food. He began his demonstration on 24 October after his wife lost her latest appeal in Iran, saying his family was “caught in a dispute between two states”
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UK news in pictures 12 November 2021 Peter Green protesting outside the Cop26 gates during the official final day of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.
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UK news in pictures 11 November 2021 Seagulls fly around the statue entitled 'Tommy', a first World War soldier by artist Ray Lonsdale at dawn in Seaham, Britain
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UK news in pictures 10 November 2021 Climate activists dressed as characters inspired by the Netflix series “Squid Game” protest as they ask Samsung to go 100% renewable energy, outside the venue for COP26 in Glasgow
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UK news in pictures 9 November 2021 A deer statue silhouetted at Loch Faskally in Pitlochry, Scotland
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UK news in pictures 8 November 2021 Sunrise over St Mary's Lighthouse at Whitley Bay on the North East coast of England
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UK news in pictures 7 November 2021 Activists from Friends of the Earth during a demonstration calling for an end to all new oil and gas projects in the North Sea outside the UK Government's Cop26 hub during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow
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UK news in pictures 6 November 2021 Protesters take part in a rally organised by the Cop26 Coalition in Glasgow demanding global climate justice
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UK news in pictures 5 November 2021 Final touches are made to a life sized Sir David Attenborough cake surrounded by animals as part of a display created by a group of cake artists during Cake International at NEC Birmingham
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UK news in pictures 4 November 2021 A spectacular display of the Northern Lights seen over Derwentwater, near Keswick in the Lake District
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UK news in pictures 3 November 2021 Police and demonstrators at a Extinction Rebellion protest on Buchanan Street, during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow
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UK news in pictures 2 November 2021 A person walks along the Basingstoke canal near to Dogmersfield in Hampshire
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It is understood that ministers were split between those – thought to include health secretary Sajid Javid and levelling up secretary Michael Gove – wanting swift action and others, led by chancellor Rishi Sunak, who argued that decisions which would inflict economic damage running into many billions of pounds should not be taken until the severity of illness caused by Omicron became clearer.
Instead, Mr Johnson promised that data on infections, hospitalisations and deaths would be monitored on an hour-by-hour basis, and that he would not hesitate to order new restrictions if the figures showed they were necessary. He urged the public to show “caution” with measures such as ventilation and hand-washing and to get their Covid vaccinations and boosters as soon as possible. A total of 5.37 million jabs were administered in the UK last week – 65 per cent up on the previous week.
The PM said there were “risks and uncertainties” surrounding the rate at which people infected with Omicron are likely to end up in hospital, the severity of any illness caused and the effectiveness of the booster vaccine in fighting off the variant.
“Unfortunately, I must say to people we will have to reserve the possibility of taking further action to protect the public and to protect public health and to protect our NHS, and we won’t hesitate to take that action,” he said.
Pressure on NHS hospitals was underlined in two letters seen by The Independent, with University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust warning booked leave may have to be cancelled because of the pressure from Omicron, while Barts in London told doctors it may have to cancel “some or much” of its planned operations in January.
Latest figures showed 91,743 positive Covid tests recorded on Monday, bringing the total over the past seven days to 221,000 – a shocking 61 per cent higher than the previous week. The true level of infections is believed to be far higher, because of the time-lag between being exposed to the virus, experiencing symptoms and being tested.
MPs at Westminster said they expected to be recalled next Tuesday or Wednesday to approve curbs ahead of New Year’s Eve, though some did not rule out an emergency sitting before Christmas.
One backbencher told The Independent: “I think [Johnson]’s going for a compromise in cabinet which is do nothing before Christmas and then bring in restrictions after Christmas. The recall would probably for Tuesday and Wednesday next week – that’s my best guess. There will be a lot of frustration about it, unless they tell us what’s going on and share some of the data and show things are worse than expected.”
There is no constitutional requirement for notice before a recall, but it would be practically difficult for Mr Johnson to give the Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle less than 24 hours to call MPs back to the Commons for the vote which the PM has promised on any new regulations.
The shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said it was clear that Mr Johnson is “too weak to stand up to his own backbenchers, many of whom have no plan beyond ‘let the virus rip’.”
“Today, while businesses across the country wonder if they can continue to trade, and families make frantic calls about whether they will see each other this Christmas, true to form the prime minister has put his party before the public,” said Mr Streeting. “Rather than set out a clear plan for the country, he has chosen to protect himself from his own MPs by simply not saying anything. Boris Johnson is unfit to lead.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the prime minister had left millions of families unable to plan their Christmases.
“Boris Johnson is weak, indecisive and incapable of providing the leadership our country needs,” said Davey. “His credibility has been shot to pieces, he’s no longer trusted by the public or supported by his party. The prime minister must recall parliament now instead of yet again acting too late. Ducking the difficult decisions is not a plan.”
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon called a meeting of her cabinet for Tuesday to discuss restrictions north of the border, which are already tighter than in England.
Scientists challenged the PM’s suggestion that the scientific argument for further restrictions is “finely balanced”.
“On the contrary, there are strong scientific arguments for people to immediately cease the activities that are known to cause transmission,” said Oxford University primary care professor Trish Greenhalgh. “In particular, large indoor gatherings of unmasked people, especially those involving singing, should not occur.”
University College London professor Christina Pagel called on the government to immediately return to step two of the old Covid roadmap – limiting household mixing, banning indoor drinking at bars and restaurants and capping funerals at 30 people – to prevent “thousands” of infections over the coming days.
Hospitalisations in London – the epicentre of the current wave – have risen by 37 per cent in the past week to 1,349 on 18 December. The 220 Covid patients admitted to a hospital in the capital on Friday marked the highest daily figure since March.
Admissions are also on the rise in the northwest, but are continuing to fall in all other regions of the country, where the impact of Omicron has yet to be felt.
“It is already too late to prevent catastrophic strain on health and social care, as well as on other services,” said Dr Peter English, a former chair of the BMA Public Health Medicine Committee.
UCL epidemiologist Prof Irene Petersen, an epidemiologist at University College London (UCL), said this was the third occasion of the pandemic in which was the government was “dithering” in making a decision, after delays to the initial lockdown in March 2020 and the rise of the Delta variant last autumn.
“What we see now is that Omicron is in charge rather than the British government,” she said. “I fear that it can have dire consequences not only for our health but also for our society.”
But Conservative backbencher Anthony Browne said he was “delighted that the government has decided not to impose any more Covid restrictions, at least before Christmas”, adding: “The data really does not justify it, and it would be so damaging socially and economically.”
The chief executive of UKHospitality, Kate Nicholls, said businesses have been left “in limbo” with no certainty about how they should plan for the vital week covering Christmas and the new year or how they will pay wages and bills at the end of the month.
Support packages available to them were designed for the summer recovery, not the crucial festive break, which has seen them lose 40-60 per cent of December trade this year, she said.
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Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said a fifth of nightlife businesses could lose their entire workforce, and one in three fear closure within a month after forfeiting an average ￡46,000 in lost sales and cancellations during the festive period.
“It really is a chilling prospect to see so many venues in our sector left to bleed,” he said.