West Sussex MP refuses to rule out further England lockdown
But Nick Gibb says it's unlikely to happen
A Government minister and West Sussex MP has refused to rule out the possibility that England may be placed back in lockdown after Christmas.
Schools standards minister Nick Gibb has spoken out after Northern Ireland announced it would enforce six weeks of measures, starting on Boxing Day.
Speaking to Niall Paterson of Sky News on Friday morning (December 18th), the Bognor and Lttlehampton MP said 'nothing is ruled out' as we tackle this pandemic.
But Mr Gibb has claimed such a situation is unlikely - and that the tier system, which saw several more areas placed under the toughest Tier 3 restrictions yesterday, is working.
"The tier system is a very effective way of using test data that identifies where the local spikes in infection rates are and to focus those restrictions on those areas
"In Bristol, in North Somerset and in Herefordshire, we've seen areas come down the system as those rates come down.
"We think that the locally-focused restrictions is a very effective way of tackling the virus, but we will do everything we can to tackle the virus... we cannot take our foot off the accelerator."
Yesterday it was revealed that West Sussex would remain under Tier 2 rules, which allow pubs to stay open if they operate as restaurants and permits a maximum of six people meeting together outdoors.
Areas which border the county, including Havant, Portsmouth and most of Surrey, will move into Tier 3 from Saturday.
This means pubs and restaurants will be closed to customers, although they will be allowed to offer takeaway, delivery and click and collect services.
Under Northern Ireland's new rules, hospitality and non-essential retail will close - including homeware - and click and collect sales will not be permitted.
And there are extra harsh measures in place for the first week of the lockdown - from 26th December 26th to January 2nd- between the hours of 8pm and 6am.
All businesses which can stay open under the rules must close, and outdoor exercise is only permitted with members of the household.
The only exception to this is the three household Christmas bubble allowed up until December 27th.
Mr Gibb has also confirmed that teachers will not be in charge of testing secondary school pupils in England when they return to class in January.
From 4 January, all primary school children will go back. But for secondary school pupils, they will be learning from home for five days - unless they are in an exam year.
The minister says this is to let schools get ready to implement a new testing regime, which will be planned by the Armed Forces and administered by volunteers and agency workers.
Asked if teachers will have any role in testing, Mr Gibb said:
"No - teachers are already fully occupied, they already have their hands full."
He told Sky News:
"People are very community minded, this is a national effort.
"This is about our priority for education, making sure children are in the classroom, getting lessons."