Plans to ease restrictions over Christmas are ‘under review’, Downing Street says

Boris Johnson’s official spokesman has said that the guidance to ease coronavirus restrictions over Christmas is ‘under review’.

While the government wants to still allow families and friends to meet up over the festive period, they’re coming under increasing pressure to revise the plans.

According to the Independent, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for the government’s emergency Cobra committee to meet up and review the proposed relaxations of the rules.

As it stands, at Christmas three households can meet in a ‘bubble’ over five days, from December 23rd to the 27th.

The prime minister’s spokesman refused to confirm or deny reports that have risen today, claiming ministers are discussing different options to change the current Christmas plans.

The government is reportedly discussing the possibility of either reducing the number of days rules are relaxed from five to three, or changing the number of households that can meet up in a bubble from three to two.

The spokesman added that guidance was constantly under review, and that they were taking into account the latest transmission rates, hospitalisations, as well as deaths from coronavirus.

He said: “As we always have done during the pandemic, we keep guidance under constant review.

“But our intention to allow families and friends to meet up during the Christmas period remains.”

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The news comes after Matt Hancock said that ‘further action’ might be needed if moving London and parts of the South East into Tier 3 doesn’t work in stemming infections, sparking fears the relaxed festive rules might not go ahead as planned.

It also follows reports this morning of a joint editorial piece from the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal which called for the PM to ditch the Christmas household mixing plan.

The two medical journals came together in a rare joint editorial which calls for Boris Johnson to scrap plans that allow household mixing over Christmas in order to protect the NHS.

The first joint editorial in 100 years, the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal have called for the prime minister to change tactics due to the rising cases in England.