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| UK coronavirus live: Birmingham, Kent, Greater Manchester, Newcastle among regions in tier 3 measures | UK coronavirus live: Birmingham, Kent, Greater Manchester, Newcastle among regions in tier 3 measures |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Government website crashes as regions placed in to tier system; weekly infection survey suggests prevalence of coronavirus is declining in England | |
| “Lockdown must not become limbo,” says Dan Jarvis, the Labour mayor for Sheffield city region. He says he wants the region to come out of tier 3 “as a matter of urgency”. | |
| Boris Johnson will be joined by Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, at his No 10 press conference this afternoon. | |
| This is useful - a map showing which parts of England are in which tiers. | |
| Nicola Sturgeon was challenged at FMQs about “confusing” messaging around Christmas, with UK-wide relaxations accompanied by extreme caution from the first minister and warnings from Scottish public health experts about the dangers of a subsequent third wave. | |
| Sturgeon said that Christmas presented a “really complex situation” and that the agreed cross-UK relaxation was “a recognition of reality” that some people would feel unable to stay within the rules as they are now. She said that rather than allowing people to break those irules in a “haphazard” way, it was better to set out fresh guidance, but with default advice to stay at home. | |
| She confirmed to MSPs that initial guidance on Christmas had been published this morning, but reiterated “the safest way to spend Christmas is in our own home, with our own household in our own local area”. | |
| She said that there should be no more than more than 8 people over the age of 12 in any festive bubble, and it should include only one extended household. The advice is also that those wanting to visit someone in a care home over Christmas should not form a festive bubble. | |
| She took FMQs as she announced a further 1,225 positive cases overnight, with 1,125 people in hospital with the virus, 31 fewer than yesterday, 90 in intensive care, six more than yesterday, and a further 51 deaths. | |
| She said that Scotland’s R number estimate is expected to remain slightly below 1. | |
| In the Commons Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, is now making a statement on development spending. He has just told MPs that the government will legislate to allow it to abandon the 0.7% target for overseas aid spending as a share of national income. But he insisted that the UK was still determined to remain an international leader in this field. | |
| In a joint statement on Leicester being placed in tier 3, the three local Labour MPs, Liz Kendall, Jonathan Ashworth and Claudia Webbe, issued a joint statement saying: | |
| Schools who used reserves to pay for mounting pandemic costs while poorer performing ones have been bailed out will have to “just lump it,” parliament’s public accounts committee has heard. | |
| Cases of schools who have racked up large extra bills were raised with the Department for Education’s most senior civil servant by Tory MP Richard Holden, who said one of his local schools would spend an extra £100 per pupil on cleaning this year. | |
| Some schools who had dipped into their reserves and felt they were being punished while others were being bailed out wanted to know if they would be reimbursed. | |
| He was told by Susan Acland-Hood, the DfE’s permanent secretary, that she completely understood the feelings of head teachers who had managed schools well and built up reserves. But she added: | |
| Meanwhile, the average size of bubbles of children and others who had to come home and self isolate after a case of covid-19 had started to come down “quite significantly” since the start of September after collaboration between the DfE and the Department of Health, said Acland-Hood. | |
| The first port of call for schools should be the DfE helpline, she added, and it would be rare for advice to be given for entire year groups to be sent home. Rather, it would be more a case of examining who the particular pupil or member of staff had been in contact with. | |
| Patrick Harley, the Conservative leader of Dudley council, said he was “disappointed” that his town was in tier 3 because “the decision does not reflect the substantial reduction in our Covid-19 cases we have seen in recent days”. He said he hoped the decision would be reviewed in a fortnight. | |
| Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford council in West Yorkshire, which is in tier 3, has joined Andy Burnham in calling for more support for businesses. She said: | |
| These are from Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury in Kent, which is in tier 3. | |
| The Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, who represents Denton and Reddish in Greater Manchester, says he is “minded” to vote against the new measures because he is opposed to the the “arbitrary singling out of the hospitality sector, which all the data shows is responsible for around just 3% of transmissions”. In a statement he said: | The Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, who represents Denton and Reddish in Greater Manchester, says he is “minded” to vote against the new measures because he is opposed to the the “arbitrary singling out of the hospitality sector, which all the data shows is responsible for around just 3% of transmissions”. In a statement he said: |
| Earlier in the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the house, said the vote on the new regulations would take place on Tuesday. | Earlier in the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the house, said the vote on the new regulations would take place on Tuesday. |
| The Labour party has not yet said how it will vote, although on Monday Sir Keir Starmer said that a return to a three-tier system was “risky”, suggesting that the party could abstain. Voting against would run the risk of England being left without any Covid restrictions in place at all, which is not an outcome Labour favours because generally it has been arguing for a tougher regime than the one imposed by No 10. Dozens of Tory MPs are likely to vote against but, without the opposition voting against, there would be almost no risk of the government losing. | The Labour party has not yet said how it will vote, although on Monday Sir Keir Starmer said that a return to a three-tier system was “risky”, suggesting that the party could abstain. Voting against would run the risk of England being left without any Covid restrictions in place at all, which is not an outcome Labour favours because generally it has been arguing for a tougher regime than the one imposed by No 10. Dozens of Tory MPs are likely to vote against but, without the opposition voting against, there would be almost no risk of the government losing. |
| Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, has said while he can see the case for his area being in tier 3, he will be pushing for it to go back to tier 2 after a fortnight. | Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, has said while he can see the case for his area being in tier 3, he will be pushing for it to go back to tier 2 after a fortnight. |
| But he also condemned the government’s decision not to offer extra business support for tier 3 areas. He said: | But he also condemned the government’s decision not to offer extra business support for tier 3 areas. He said: |
| Burnham also said it was unfair that support for local authorities was paid on a per head basis, because this meant that “places with high numbers of hospitality businesses – like city centres – get the same population-based grant as more suburban and rural areas with fewer businesses affected”. | Burnham also said it was unfair that support for local authorities was paid on a per head basis, because this meant that “places with high numbers of hospitality businesses – like city centres – get the same population-based grant as more suburban and rural areas with fewer businesses affected”. |
| Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the Lib Dem leader of Portsmouth city council, said that moving his city into tier 2 was “sensible”, but that he hoped it could move down to tier 1 in a fortnight. He said: | Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the Lib Dem leader of Portsmouth city council, said that moving his city into tier 2 was “sensible”, but that he hoped it could move down to tier 1 in a fortnight. He said: |
| Hancock clarifies his earlier answer to Julian Sturdy. (See 12.17pm.) He says the current rules will be in force for a fortnight. After that they will be reviewed every week, he says, with a view to any changes being announced on Thursdays. | Hancock clarifies his earlier answer to Julian Sturdy. (See 12.17pm.) He says the current rules will be in force for a fortnight. After that they will be reviewed every week, he says, with a view to any changes being announced on Thursdays. |
| In the Commons Julian Sturdy (Con) asks for the tiers to be reviewed every week, not every fortnight. | In the Commons Julian Sturdy (Con) asks for the tiers to be reviewed every week, not every fortnight. |
| Hancock says he will agree to that. He says he has spoken about the tiers being reviewed regularly, because the data could be reviewed more often than once a week. | Hancock says he will agree to that. He says he has spoken about the tiers being reviewed regularly, because the data could be reviewed more often than once a week. |
| (But under the government’s regulations, as Hancock confirms in his written ministerial statement today, the rules only have to be reviewed every fortnight.) | (But under the government’s regulations, as Hancock confirms in his written ministerial statement today, the rules only have to be reviewed every fortnight.) |
| This is from Philip Whitehead, the leader of Wiltshire council, on the news that Wiltshire is in tier 2. | This is from Philip Whitehead, the leader of Wiltshire council, on the news that Wiltshire is in tier 2. |
| This is from the Conservative MP Steve Baker, deputy chair of the Covid Recovery Group, which represents anti-lockdown Tories. | This is from the Conservative MP Steve Baker, deputy chair of the Covid Recovery Group, which represents anti-lockdown Tories. |