Politics

People need to behave as if they already have COVID-19, especially in the new Tier 4 areas of England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned. He said the new strain of coronavirus was “out of control” and “we need to get it under control by reducing social contact”. The five-day Christmas bubble period has been

Four days ago, Boris Johnson declared: “I want to be clear, we don’t want to ban Christmas, to cancel it. “I think that would be frankly inhuman and against the instincts of many people in this country. “Nor do we want to criminalise plans people may have made for some time.” Live updates on coronavirus

The government has left it “very, very late” for a post-Brexit business plan, according to Brexit select committee chair Hilary Benn. It comes after the House of Commons released a report warning ministers about the “overall state of readiness” for the end of the transition period in less than two weeks. Speaking to Sky News,

“Just a few hours” remain for London and Brussels to strike a Brexit trade deal, the EU’s chief negotiator has said. Speaking to the European Parliament, Michel Barnier said it was the “moment of truth” for the two sides coming to an agreement. “We have very little time remaining, just a few hours to work

Teachers will not have to play a role in coronavirus testing in schools, a minister has told Sky News. “Teachers are already fully occupied…they already have their hands full,” schools minister Nick Gibb said. The return of secondary school and college pupils will be staggered in the first week of January, the government announced on

Boris Johnson will speak to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tonight as negotiations continue over a post-Brexit trade deal. The prime minister will hold a phone call with Ms von der Leyen at 7pm UK time, with the two leaders to take stock of the current state of trade talks. Discussions over the

MPs will be sent home for the Christmas holidays on Thursday – but could be recalled to Westminster as early as next week if a post-Brexit trade deal is agreed, Number 10 has said. “Time is now in short supply to reach an agreement with the EU and we expect discussions will continue over the

Boris Johnson has said all UK nations have reached a “unanimous agreement” to go ahead with planned Christmas bubble rules. But he added that people should “exercise a high degree of personal responsibility” if they do spend time with family over the festive period. It comes after a phone call between Westminster and the devolved

Boris Johnson is resisting demands to “cancel Christmas”, claiming it is too late to change plans to allow families to meet up during a five-day relaxation of COVID rules. He will face MPs in the Commons and later address Tory backbenchers and declare his opposition to dropping plans for three households to meet up from

Weekly rapid coronavirus tests will be available for secondary schools and colleges in England next month, the government has announced. As part of the initial rollout, all members of staff will eligible for weekly rapid COVID-19 tests. If students are identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for the virus, they

Sadiq Khan has called on the government to rethink its relaxation of coronavirus rules over Christmas. “What I’d say to the government is I’m not sure you’ve got it right, in fact I’m sure you haven’t got it right in relation to the relaxations over Christmas,” the London mayor told Sky News. Live updates on

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has suggested the government will not stop households from meeting up over Christmas despite rising COVID-19 infection rates in some parts of the country. Speaking after he announced London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire are to be placed into the toughest coronavirus measures, Mr Hancock said the government did not

There has been some progress in one area of the Brexit talks but disagreements remain on other issues, EU negotiator Michel Barnier has reportedly said. A senior EU diplomat, cited by the Reuters news agency, said the bloc’s chief negotiator had told ambassadors there has been “limited” progress on agreeing an enforcement mechanism to ensure

Post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and Brussels will continue into next week after negotiators were told to “go the extra mile”. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen released a brief joint statement following what they called a “useful” phone call on Sunday morning. They said they “discussed the

Post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU could slip beyond tonight’s deadline, the foreign secretary has suggested. Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday, Dominic Raab said “I can’t close the door” on that possibility but admitted “there is still a long way to go” before an agreement is possible. Prime Minister Boris

As negotiations on a UK-EU trade deal are set to continue overnight, a British government source has said that “as things stand the offer on the table from the EU remains unacceptable”. Both sides now concede that a no-deal outcome is more likely than not when the talks end on Sunday, and Royal Navy gunboats