As it happened: PM announces new restrictions in England

1. Boris Johnson has announced tougher Covid-19 measures in England to control the spread of the Omicron variant
2. Guidance to work from home will return on Monday and face masks will also have to be worn in more public venues
3. Covid passes proving vaccination or a negative test will be required at nightclubs and venues with large crowds
4. The Plan B restrictions are "proportionate and responsible", the PM says
5. Health Secretary Sajid Javid meanwhile tells the Commons that Omicron is much more transmissible than the Delta variant
6. Earlier the PM apologised for a video that showed his staff joking about a Christmas party held during lockdown last December and ordered an inquiry
7. The Met Police has said it will not investigate the video because it does not "provide evidence" regulations were breached
8. Allegra Stratton, who was Johnson's spokeswoman at the time, has resigned from No 10 over the video

Growing expectation new Covid restrictions set to be announced

Our political editor Laura Kuenssberg says there is "growing expectation" in Westminster that the government is about to announce extra Covid restrictions.

"Nothing confirmed but turning out out to be quite the day," she writes on Twitter.

We do follow rules on Covid, says foreign secretary

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss: 'We do follow the rules on Covid'

Ministers may have cancelled media appearances, but with Liz Truss making her first major speech as foreign secretary at the Chatham House think tank in central London, she was not able to escape questions about the Downing Street Christmas party.

The BBC’s James Landale asked why people should obey Covid rules from the government when Downing Street breaks those rules “and then jokes and lies about having done so”.

She said: "As to alleged events in No 10, I don't know the detail of what happened. I know that the prime minister's spokesman answered these questions in detail yesterday."

She added that she was focusing on foreign policy but insisted: "We do follow rules on Covid."

'Very difficult' to impose Covid restrictions after party row

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Matt Hancock resigned as health secretary in June

While government ministers have pulled out of TV and radio appearances this morning, some backbenchers have been making their views known.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock, who resigned after breaking social distancing guidance by kissing a colleague, told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "What I know is that the prime minister said that no rules were broken. And nobody's suggesting that he was at this party."

But a former vice chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, Charles Walker, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the video made it "very, very difficult" for the government to introduce anything but "voluntary restrictions" on mixing.

Meanwhile, Conservative peer Baroness Warsi tweeted that every minister, parliamentarian and staffer at the Downing Street party should resign, "no ifs, no buts".

Is this a tipping point for Boris Johnson?

Adam Fleming

Chief political correspondent

A few Tory MPs are talking in almost apocalyptic terms. Roger Gale described this as another potential Barnard Castle moment. Another said this could represent a “tipping point” where Boris Johnson flips from an asset to a liability.

Those who monitor discipline on the Conservative benches for a living think those voices are currently in the minority.

But everyone will be monitoring Prime Minister's Questions at noon. How many Tory MPs will turn up to support the prime minister? How vocal will they be in their support or criticism? Can Labour leader Keir Starmer seize the opportunity?

And - crucially - does Boris Johnson change the formula he’s been using that there was no Christmas party and no breach of the Covid rules? Even a single word’s difference could be significant.

There’s also evidence that this story is preventing the government from governing. Broadcasters had expected Health Secretary Sajid Javid to do interviews this morning where he’d use the anniversary of the UK’s first Covid vaccination to announce that the booster programme had finally been expanded.

But “the Saj” didn’t show.

Department for Education admits 'gathering' during 2020 lockdown

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Earlier, Tory MP Robert Halfon spoke of his concern at another government staff party last December - this time at the Department of Education.

It was first revealed by the Daily Mirror last night, which said up to two dozen staff of former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson got together for drinks and canapes in the office on 10 December.

At the time, London was in Tier 2 restrictions which banned any indoor household mixing.

The department has admitted that a "gathering" was held for those who were already in the office and couldn't work from home.

"Drinks and snacks were brought by those attending and no outside guests or supporting staff were invited or present," a spokeswoman said.

"While this was work-related, looking back we accept it would have been better not to have gathered in this way at that particular time."

PM must clarify whether there was a party - Tory MP

Conservative MP Roger Gale: 'PM needs to explain what happened'

Backbench Tory MP Roger Gale says he felt "incredulity" when the video of No 10 aides joking about a Christmas party at Downing Street emerged yesterday.

He says there was "hollow mirth and complete bewilderment" in the parliamentary tea room when the news broke and he hopes that by Prime Minister's Questions at midday Boris Johnson will be able to clear up what happened.

"I think the prime minister has to come to the despatch box today and either stand by the Downing Street line and say that there was no party - and if he says on the record that there was no party I will believe him because of course to mislead the House of Commons would be a very serious offence indeed - or he has to say he'd been blindsided by his team, there was a party and he apologises."

He adds that with the new Omicron coronavirus variant "this is serious" and that the government needs to "take people with us" if it has to impose rules which require public support.

"This is distracting from the real importance, the real message," he says.

Ant and Dec take swipe at PM

We don't know if the prime minister is a fan of ITV's I'm A Celebrity (although his dad did appear in the show four years ago) but he may well have wanted to turn off last night's episode when co-hosts Ant and Dec poked fun at him over the Christmas party held at Downing St last year during lockdown.

The presenters jokingly referenced it, saying the show's contestants "categorically deny" any suggestion they had a party in the Welsh castle where the show is being filmed.

Declan Donnelly said: "It is all changing in camp now because yesterday the celebs chose a new leader via the gift of a secret vote."

Ant McPartlin continued: "And that means David's reign is over. But they weren't celebrating. They categorically deny any suggestions that they had a party.

"And this fictional party definitely didn't involve cheese and wine, or a Secret Santa."

Donnelly then looked directly into the camera and said: "Evening, prime minister... for now."

Ministers pull out of media appearances

Health Secretary Sajid Javid misses BBC Breakfast interview

Several ministers cancelled scheduled appearances on radio and TV this morning with the BBC and other broadcasters, leaving the media unable to ask them about the Downing Street video.

BBC Radio 4's Today programme had been due to feature Health Secretary Sajid Javid on the day that booster jabs are being brought forward for over-40s and on the anniversary of the first Covid vaccine being administered.

But presenter Nick Robinson said they were told just minutes after the emergence of the video that no minister would be available.

A minister was also due to appear on BBC Breakfast, but cancelled with no replacement offered.

Mr Javid also cancelled appearances on Times Radio and Sky News.

Like BBC Breakfast, Sky News highlighted the refusal to send a minister, with presenter Kay Burley saying no one had accepted their invitation and "we've not even had a proper RSVP".

ITV's Good Morning Britain also showed an empty chair where the minister would have sat as they explained why no one was there to answer questions.

Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup is understood to have pulled out of a series of regional TV appearances.

No 10 aides in video should apologise, senior Tory says

A senior Tory MP has said the Downing Street aides who joked about a Christmas party in lockdown last year should apologise for "the insensitivity of it when people were suffering and struggling all through that time".

But speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Robert Halfon, who chairs the Commons education select committee, stopped short of saying Prime Minister Boris Johnson should say sorry. Downing Street continues to insist no party took place.

Halfon said he felt "seriously upset" at new revelations in the Daily Mirror that the Department for Education held a social gathering for staff in December last year while London was in Tier 2 restrictions, which banned social mixing indoors.

"They have admitted that there was a party. I think that's pretty grim given that children were being sent home, schools were being shut down," he said.

He called for Nadhim Zahawi, the new education secretary, to hold those responsible for the party accountable.

What's next for Boris Johnson after the No 10 party video?

Laura Kuenssberg

Political editor

EPA

Condemnations, not from Boris Johnson's political opponents, but from his own side - many Conservative MPs are furious after footage emerged of Downing Street staffers laughing about how they'd have to explain the gathering in December last year, if news of it ever emerged.

The footage has already been seen by millions of people, well beyond Westminster's bubble, even joked about by on ITV's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. But what are the likely consequences of this deep embarrassment for No 10?

Any party at Downing Street would have breached the government's guidelines at the time.

Its guidance for the Christmas period specifically said: "Although there are exemptions for work purposes, you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier."

Members of the public will feel hacked off - not just to find out that Downing Street had a party but that staff were captured on camera joking about what they had done.

Of course it is dynamite too for the opposition parties who have for months been making the case that the government believes it can act however it chooses.

Read more here

Reality Check

What were the rules on Christmas parties last year?

A year ago, guidance on social gatherings was complex. Here's a recap on where we were last Christmas.

A party at Downing Street last year would have breached the government's guidelines at the time.

Its guidance for the Christmas period said: "Although there are exemptions for work purposes, you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier."

The other question is whether it would have been illegal.

London at the time was in Tier 3 and the law banned gatherings of two or more people indoors unless it was "reasonably necessary" for work.

There was also a specific prohibition on organising an indoor gathering of more than 30 people.

But there may have theoretically been a loophole for government buildings like 10 Downing Street because of the 1984 legislation used to bring in the tier system, according to Adam Wagner - a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers and an expert on Covid regulations.

Another barrister, Charles Holland from Trinity Chambers, tweeted that there would have needed to be an agreement with Westminster City Council for the regulations to apply in Downing Street.

PA Media

Margaret Keenan marks one year since becoming first in UK to be vaccinated

BBC

Today marks a year since the UK delivered its first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine outside of a trial, kickstarting the vaccination programme.

Speaking to Breakfast, Margaret Keenan said she was "so happy" that she got the vaccine.

"It's been a wonderful year really," she said. "People meet me in the street and say ‘thank god for you because I wasn’t going to have this jab’ and it’s lovely to hear that and even young people have spoken to me and it makes me feel good."

Ms Keenan urged people to get vaccinated.

"I say please do have the jab because it will save your life and the life of your friends and family and the NHS as well. Don’t think about it, just go and have it done."

There were cheers on the ward when Margaret got her first vaccine a year ago

WATCH: Bereaved daughter's dismay at video

Earlier we heard from Dr Saleyha Ahsan who lost her father to Covid around this time last year.

Dr Ahsan, who has been caring for critically ill Covid patients, told BBC Breakfast that the leaked video of Downing Street staff laughing about a Christmas party has caused her to have flashbacks to a very difficult time.

Watch her moving interview with BBC Breakfast:

Downing Street party: Grieving doctor's dismay at No 10 video

Omicron doubling every two or three days - Prof Ferguson

Away from the Downing Street party row, Prof Neil Ferguson, a key government adviser, has been talking about the spread of the Omicron variant across the UK. He says there is a rationale to telling people to work from home again.

He said case numbers of the variant are doubling "at least every three days, maybe every two days at the moment" and it was likely to overtake the Delta variant to become the dominant type of coronavirus in the UK before Christmas.

At the moment, it represents only about 2% to 3% of cases, but he said the overall case numbers would accelerate within a week or two due to its rapid growth.

Prof Ferguson said that with no action the Omicron wave was likely to peak in January but the question of what measures the UK would take was likely to depend on how severe an infection it turns out to be.

"At the moment, we don't really have a good handle on the severity of this virus, there's a little hint in the UK data that infections are a little bit more likely to be asymptomatic, but we really need to firm up that evidence at the current time," he said.

He said there was "a rationale, just epidemiologically, to try and slow this down" by telling people to work from home so there is more time to administer booster jabs, but it might be possible that a lockdown is required again.

'More and more evidence' of party - former police officer

BBC

Dal Babu, a former chief superintendent in the Metropolitan Police, tells BBC Breakfast that a police investigation into whether a lockdown breach occurred would be likely to have access to a wealth of evidence.

Downing Street is "one of the most CCTVed places in the world", he said.

"There would have been lots of police officers booking people in and out so the evidence would be irrefutable of people being in and around and there would be CCTV footage with sound to see what people were doing," he added.

Some police officers may decide to whistleblow and come forward to say what they saw, Babu said.

He also said the suggestion that police do not investigate issues such as this retrospectively is something he had never heard before in 30 years of police.

"There’s more and more evidence emerging that a party took place," he said, adding that the video is "the kind of thing you do in big organisations when you anticipate difficult questions might come up".

'We would love to hear from the government'

BBC

As Health Secretary Sajid Javid cancelled an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Breakfast has also been having problems getting a government representative to appear this morning, in the wake of the Downing Street lockdown party video.

The programme showed an image of its Westminster studio standing empty as the presenters explained that no minister was available - an unusual occurence.

"The cameras’s ready, the seat's there, we can take an interview at any time," said presenter Jon Kay. "We would love to hear from the government."

PM has got to come clean - Labour's David Lammy

David Lammy: "Oh please... this clearly was not a business meeting"

Health Secretary Sajid Javid was expected to appear on the BBC's Breakfast and Today programmes, but cancelled. No other minister was offered as a replacement.

Instead, Labour's shadow foreign secretary David Lammy was up, telling the programmes the PM had "got to come clean" about how many people were at the No 10 party and the circumstances under which they thought it was acceptable.

"We were living in Tier 3 restrictions in which a gathering of more than six people, in which having drinks, having canapes – everyone else was not allowed to have parties of this kind. People were arrested," he said.

He said over the coming months Boris Johnson will have to get "very, very serious" with the British people over the spread of the Omicron variant, and said he was concerned that people might not follow Covid regulations because of this incident.

Lammy said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would have to ask questions at today's Prime Minister's Questions "on behalf of the British people, because we have no answers".

He said there should also be a police investigation.

No 10 video was ‘like a bullet to the chest’, says grieving daughter

BBC

Dr Saleyha Ahsan from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group was speaking to BBC Breakfast earlier to give her reaction to the Downing Street video.

She said she was “absolutely not” satisfied by No 10’s assurances that no party took place, saying: “This latest revelation is just like a bullet through the chest.”

Her father had started to become ill on the day of the Downing Street party, she said. By the time aides were filming themselves laughing about it, she said he was on a CPAP machine to help him breathe.

Over the next five days he deteriorated and died on 28 December, Ahsan said. “It’s horrific.”

She said her family, who all work for the NHS, had stayed away from her father to reduce the risk to him and to set an example as doctors to their community.

Ahsan said she was looking after Covid patients in intensive care herself and remembers “how devastating it was to have to constantly break horrific news” to people who weren’t able to spend “those precious last few days, moments with loved ones”.

She said she wanted to thank “whoever found their moral compass” and shared the video almost one year on, and said the incident showed the need for a public inquiry, which could require that evidence is preserved.

“Until we start, all evidence, all material is vulnerable,” she said.

Watch: Downing Street aides joke about lockdown party

Downing Street party: Video shows staff joking at mock press conference

The video that has renewed pressure on Downing Street over the lockdown party last year takes the form of a mock press conference, held on 22 December with no journalists present.

Special adviser to the prime minister Ed Oldfield asks the PM’s then press secretary Allegra Stratton about reports of a party in Downing Street "on Friday night".

Stratton says: "I went home" and then pauses and laughs.

After Oldfield follows up to question if the prime minister would "condone" a Christmas party, Ms Stratton asks: "What's the answer?" Oldfield says: “I don’t know.”

Another aide jokes that "it wasn't a party, it was cheese and wine." Stratton laughs and asks "is cheese and wine all right?".

She says “this is being recorded”, before adding: "This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced."

In response to the clip, No 10 said: "There was no Christmas party. Covid rules have been followed at all times."

Welcome to today's coverage

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Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage of the pandemic. Here’s a quick look at some of the main headlines to get started:

• A video obtained by ITV News shows Downing Street aides joking about holding a Christmas party just days after one was held there during last year’s lockdown. In a mock press conference, the PM’s then press secretary Allegra Stratton jokes: "This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced." No 10 continues to deny any party took place.
• The World Health Organization says existing vaccines should continue to protect people from severe cases of Covid-19 even if they contract the Omicron variant. But the first tests of the Pfizer jab with Omicron show “a very large drop” in how well the vaccine’s antibodies neutralised the new variant.
• Over-40s in England can now book their booster jabs for three months after their second dose. It means another seven million people are now eligible.
• It comes on the one-year anniversary of Margaret Keenan receiving her Pfizer jab – the first person in the world to be vaccinated as part of a mass Covid-19 immunisation programme.
• And “Omicron” has been named as one of 2021’s most mispronounced words, in a list compiled by a US subtitling company. It says the name of the variant should be pronounced "OH-mee-kraan" or "AH-muh-kraan", depending on whether you’re in the UK or US.