MPs have been recalled to parliament to vote on England’s new national lockdown restrictions as the measures came into force overnight amid spiralling coronavirus cases.
The Christmas recess has been cut short to allow MPs to debate and vote retrospectively on the rules after they were announced by the prime minister on Monday night.
Boris Johnson will update MPs on the new controls – which include the closure of schools to most pupils and a return to the “stay at home” order – before they vote in the evening.
What time will MPs vote and debate?
The prime minister is due to give a statement in the House of Commons at about 11.30am, although parliament is expected to sit largely remotely.
This will be followed by a debate at 2pm.
MPs will then vote on the new measures at about 7pm.
Are the measures likely to pass?
The measures are expected to pass with ease, with Labour set to support the motion.
In a televised response to a statement by the prime minister on Tuesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer confirmed he would back the new restrictions in the Commons vote.
Why has England entered another national lockdown?
The current lockdown, which began on 6 January and will last until at least mid-February, was announced amid spiralling cases in England as the country moved to Covid alert Level 5 – the highest level.
Dr Kevin Fong, national clinical adviser to NHS England’s emergency preparedness resilience and response team for Covid-19, said Level 5 means “there is a risk in the next 21 days of [health] services being overwhelmed”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the next four to six weeks will be “the most dangerous of the whole pandemic”.
A new, more contagious variant of coronavirus has been spreading across the UK, with figures suggesting one in 50 people had Covid-19 last week.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested 1.1 million people in private households in England had Covid-19 between 27 December and 2 January.
The number of daily confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK topped 60,000 for the first time on Tuesday, while a further 830 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has said people must take the “stay at home” rules seriously as he warned the country is facing a “really serious emergency”.
Additional reporting by PA
