More talks on Christmas restriction changes
The leaders of the four UK nations will talk again about whether to change the planned relaxation of rules
Last updated 16th Dec 2020
Political leaders from across the UK will have another round of talks to decide whether to make changes to the coronavirus restrictions over Christmas, amid increasing pressure from scientists to stop so many people meeting up because of concerns about another spike in cases.
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove discussed the scheduled relaxation with First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and the leaders of the devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland on Tuesday but they did not confirm a new position.
However, a source in the UK Government said there were no plans to change number of days or households allowed to mix in England, with leaders trying to agree on new safety warnings for Christmas.
Nicola Sturgeon earlier argued there is a case for reducing the planned freedoms to combat a rise in infections and indicated she could break with the four-nation approach.
But her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford said the current plans were a "hard-won agreement'' and he would "not lightly put it aside'' ahead of the first meeting.
The talks took place after two leading medical journals warned that a lessening of restrictions would "cost many lives'' and the British Medical Association echoed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in demanding an urgent re-think, calling the planned measures "rash".
Scientist fears
Public health expert Professor Linda Bauld, from the University of Edinburgh, is telling MFR: "To reduce the risk, and reduce the risk in January with potentially more restrictions coming down the track and more preventable deaths, we need to scale back the loosening that is currently being committed to.
"For people who haven't committed to paid travel then my view would be we should change the guidelines and be much more cautious, potentially restrict the number of days and the number of people who can meet up.
"There will be a loss of trust in Government if that happens. People are fed up with shifting rules. But on the other hand if you look at the polling which has been done by a number of companies you can see the majority of the population think the easing of restrictions at Christmas is not a good idea.