Inside Politics: Reduce socialising to save your Christmas, PM tells Britons

Warnings issued as record number of Covid infections recorded and public urged to come forward for booster jabs, writes Matt Mathers

Thursday 16 December 2021 08:37 GMT

(PA)

Parliament goes into recess later today amid growing concern about the impact omicron could have on the NHS, with Professor Chris Whitty and Boris Johnson urging the public to reduce their contacts over the next week or so if they want to have a normal Christmas. Meanwhile, the prime minister has accused a very senior ITV journalist of “mischaracterising” reports of lockdown-busting parties last Christmas – hours after photos emerged of a bash inside the party’s Westminster HQ showing at least 20 people in attendance and enjoying refreshments. Elsewhere, voters head to the polls in the North Shropshire by-election triggered by the resignation of Owen Paterson.

Inside the bubble

Commons sits from 9.30am with transport questions before any urgent questions and ministerial statements at 10.30am

Coming up:

– Minister for care and mental health Gillian Keegan on LBC at 7.50am

– Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting on GB News Breakfast at 8.20am

Daily Briefing

REDUCE YOUR CONTACTS: Boris Johnson last night urged Britons to cut down on their social gatherings over the next week if they want to have a normal Christmas, as the omicron Covid variant continues to rip through the country at an alarming rate. In another day of pretty dismal warnings about what impact the more infectious stain could have on the NHS, a record-breaking 78,610 new Covid cases were logged and experts believe omicron accounts for a substantial number of those infections. Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said the new strain is “moving at an absolutely phenomenal pace” as he and the prime minister told a Downing Street press conference that people should “prioritise” their social contacts between now and the big day.

WHAT ABOUT THE DATA?: Much of the data on omicron is still preliminary so there remains a lot of uncertainty about the severity of disease caused by it, Prof Whitty said as he cautioned against “over-interpreting” information coming out of South Africa. But “all the things we do know [about omicron] are bad,” he added. What we know for sure is that omicron is spreading at a faster rate than any of its predecessors and has some capacity to evade vaccines and result in “significant” hospitalisations, although booster jabs offer a good level of protection. So the message from health chiefs and government is: get your shot booked. As has been repeated by various experts over the past few days, a small percentage of a big number can still be a very large number – a figure it is feared could be big enough to overwhelm the NHS. Earlier in the day Dr Jennry Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency, said omicron is “probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic” – a statement Prof Whitty did not disagree with but he did, however, point out that vaccines put us in a better position than in previous waves.

‘MISCHARACTERISATION’: The Downing Street presser produced a good few news lines, including a new one about a lockdown-busting Christmas party in Tory Party HQ last Christmas while London was in tier 2 Covid restrictions. Shaun Bailey, the London assembly member and former mayoral candidate, stepped down from a policing role yesterday after a picture of him attending the bash was plastered all over several news outlets. Despite a statement from the London assembly’s Conservative group admitting “an unauthorised social gathering” took place, their leader in No 10 accused an ITV journalist of “completely mischaracterising” the reports after he asked the PM and the two medical experts flanking him how they felt about the image. “I just say to you, Robert – I think you completely mischaracterise the events in this place,” Johnson told the journalist.

TITTLE TATTLE?: The PM said his staff had “worked blindingly hard for a very long time in cooperation with people around government and across the whole of public services to do our very best to keep people safe” – an interesting response (particularly with Dr Nikki Kanani, director of NHS primary care services at his side), given that critics might point out that the vast majority of the public has been working hard during the pandemic but still following the rules. Johnson continues to dismiss the reports as Westminster tittle-tattle but recent opinion polls appear to tell a different story.

THE VOTE IS ON: Voters head to the polls today in the North Shropshire by-election triggered by the resignation of Owen Paterson, who was found to have broken lobbying rules and then eventually resigned. Last night, on the eve of the vote, the Liberal Democrats claimed the contest was a “coin toss” between them and the Tories, as Labour’s Keir Starmer denied a “gentleman’s agreement” with the Liberals had taken place in a bid to dial back campaigning and give Ed Davey’s party a free run at the West Midlands seat. The Tories are defending a 23,000 majority.

On the record

“I just say to you, Robert – I think you completely mischaracterise the events in this place.”

PM claims Robert Peston, ITV’s politics editor, has got it all wrong on lockdown-busting parties in No 10 last year.

From the Twitterati

“It won’t be parties, wallpaper or even Covid that gets Boris Johnson in the end. It will be the coming disaster of inflation. That’s the growing view of senior Tories, including David Cameron. My @EveningStandard column today.”