New restrictions to fight the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus come into effect in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on Boxing Day.
But England remains under the government’s less stringent Plan B curbs, after Boris Johnson put off any decision on tighter controls until after Christmas.
The prime minister has said he will not hesitate to impose new rules if necessary, but he is coming under intense pressure from his own MPs not to impose harsher measures, which would inflict financial damage on pubs, restaurants and shops hoping to recoup some of the losses of a disrupted Christmas period during the New Year festivities.
No meeting of the government’s Covid-O committee to discuss the latest data has yet been announced, though Downing Street has not ruled out talks on Monday in order to allow time for parliament to be recalled to approve new restrictions before New Year’s Eve.
The UK’s tightest rules are in force from 6am today in Wales, where a maximum of six people are permitted to meet in pubs, cinemas and restaurants.
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A total of 30 people are allowed to attend indoor events, while the maximum is 50 for outdoor events.
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UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip
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UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London
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UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester
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UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge.
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UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year
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UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton
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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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Two-metre social distancing is being required in public premises and offices, and nightclubs will close.
In Scotland, large events will have one-metre physical distancing from today and will be limited to 100 people standing indoors, 200 people sitting indoors and 500 people outdoors.
From 27 December, up to three households can meet with a one metre distancing between groups at indoor and outdoor venues like bars, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and gyms.
Table service is also needed at places where alcohol is served.
Northern Ireland is also bringing in restrictions on Boxing Day and December 27, with indoor standing events no longer permitted and nightclubs closing.
Socialising will be reduced to three households while up to six people can meet in pubs, bars and restaurants. Ten people will be allowed if they are from the same household. Only table service will be available.
A two-metre social distancing rule will be in place in public premises and offices.
The Plan B rules in force in England require face-coverings in a range of public places and Covid passes to enter mass-audience events, and include advice to work from home if possible.
Mr Johnson’s ability to tighten restrictions further is constrained by opposition within his own party, after a rebellion of 99 MPs against Plan B and the refusal of cabinet to approve new restrictions recommended by chief medical officer Chris Whitty before Christmas. The PM could avoid the need to recall parliament for a risky vote by issuing new guidance rather than regulations backed by law.
Opponents of new measures in England believe their case has been bolstered by figures from the UK Health Safety Agency suggesting that those infected with Omicron are between 50 and 70 per cent less likely to need admission to hospital than sufferers of the earlier Delta variant.
However, the government’s Sage scientific advisory committee has released modelling suggesting that halting indoor gatherings and permitting bars and restaurants only to serve outdoors could reduce deaths by 18 per cent if kept in place until mid-January or 39 per cent if retained until the end of March.
It is understood school closures are not being considered for January.
A source close to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “The PM and Nadhim are fully committed to keeping schools open, and there’s a shared commitment across Government to do so.
“Education is a top priority and school closures are not something being considered.”
Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, told The Observer it was “time to move on from the lazy assumption that government has the right to control our lives”, adding that Britons should “take responsibility for our own lives once again”.
Charles Walker, a former vice-chairman of the committee, told the newspaper he hoped emerging data would support maintaining the current course of action.
“I think the PM has done extremely well to weigh up the information, hold his nerve and get us to this point,” he added.
Tory peer Baroness Stroud, a former special adviser to Sir Iain Duncan Smith when he introduced Universal Credit as work and pensions secretary, warned the Government against stricter restrictions which risk putting people “into poverty”.
She wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: “Many of these measures cause social and health damage, and have a huge, negative impact on people’s livelihoods. And they put people into poverty.
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“I ask the Government to ensure that as they contemplate further restrictions, they are open about the active choice they would be making to damage the lives of our most vulnerable – who are doing all they can to work their way out of poverty.”