Boris Johnson to address nation on Covid crisis as MPs recalled to parliament

Experts recommend highest Covid alert level, meaning NHS at risk of being overwhelmed

Boris Johnson is expected to announce the UK’s third national lockdown in a TV address to the nation this evening, as experts moved the Covid-19 alert to its highest level of five, meaning there is a risk of the NHS being overwhelmed.

The UK’s chief medical officers are understood to have approved the change in the alert level on the basis of a recommendation by the Joint Biosecurity Centre.

MPs have been recalled to parliament on Wednesday to vote on new public health regulations to be announced by Mr Johnson in his televised statement at 8pm.

The prime minister has faced growing pressure for tougher action amid soaring rates of infections, hospitalisations and deaths driven by the virulent new variant of the disease.

Nicola Sturgeon today announced a lockdown for all of mainland Scotland until at least the end of January, including the closure of all schools.

And Sir Keir Starmer called for the closure of all schools in England as part of a national package along the lines of the original lockdown last spring.

“The virus is out of control, everybody can see that,” the Labour leader told the BBC. “The tiered system clearly isn’t working.”

 “We need to go back to where we were in March with very, very strong messaging about staying at home."

In a visit to a north London hospital to mark the first injections of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine,  Mr Johnson said there was “no question” that tougher measures would be needed. 

But he appeared to suggest at that point that any tightening of controls remained some time away, saying that it remained unclear how much impact the tier 4 regime imposed on most of the country was having and suggesting that any new measures would come “in due course”.

However a 10 Downing Street spokesman later said the PM would be making a statement, saying: “The spread of the new variant of Covid-19 has led to rapidly escalating case numbers across the country.

“The prime minister is clear that further steps must now be taken to arrest this rise and to protect the NHS and save lives. He will set those out this evening.”

Mr Johnson has come under attack for not responding more swiftly to the surge in infections over the past weeks, with Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey saying that the PM’s “dither and delay” was costing lives.

Latest figures recorded a further 407 Covid deaths on Monday, bringing the UK total to 75,431. There were 58,784 daily positive tests, bringing the tally during the pandemic to 2,713,563 and continuing a run stretching back more than a week of more than 50,000 new cases daily.

Announcing the Scottish lockdown, which comes into effect tomorrow, Ms Sturgeon said she believed Scotland was four weeks behind London on the pandemic curve.

She made a point of stressing the fact that she was acting quickly to prevent the crisis in southeast England being repeated north of the border.

“Our overriding duty now is to act quickly to save lives and protect the NHS,” she said. “Delay or prevarication in the face of this virus almost always makes things worse, not better, even if it stems from an understandable desire to wait for more data.”

Health secretary Matt Hancock this morning admitted that the regionalised tier system introduced by the PM was “no longer strong enough” to deal with the new variant of Covid.

But during his visit to Chase Farm Hospital, the PM indicated that he wanted to see more data on the impact of the tough tier 4 restrictions introduced on 21 December before deciding on the next step.

He said it remained “a bit unclear” how well tier 4 was working, and added that any new measures would be announced only “in due course”.

The House of Commons was initially due to return from recess on Tuesday this week, but Mr Johnson extended its parliamentary break until the following Monday after the 30 December recall to approve his EU trade deal.

It will now sit for a single day on Wednesday to hear a statement from the prime minister on the Covid-19 situation and debate and vote on “related public health regulations”.

In a message to MPs, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle urged as many as possible to take part by video link in order to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. 

But the Prospect union said that an immediate return to a fully virtual parliament was “the only way to keep democracy functioning while keeping staff and MPs safe”.

Deputy general secretary Garry Graham said: “This recall of parliament coming only days after the government voted to extend the recess demonstrates the lack of foresight that has been the hallmark of the government’s approach to this crisis.

“It has been evident for weeks that the country was likely heading towards another lockdown after Christmas, and also obvious that requiring MPs and staff to attend parliament in person is reckless and foolhardy, yet the government have buried their heads in the sand and refused to listen.”

The Northern Ireland Executive was also meeting in Belfast this evening amid expectations of further tightening of restrictions.

Sir Ed Davey said: “Boris Johnson has completely lost control of the Covid-19 crisis. This government has abdicated its key responsibility, which is to make the tough decisions for the future good of the country. 

"Over and over again, Boris Johnson has ducked the hard choices. His dither and delay continues to cost lives and livelihoods.

“Now is the time to show leadership and get ahead of the spread of this awful disease by announcing a new national lockdown in England coupled with a clear plan for schools and exams; comprehensive support for small businesses and the self-employed who have been left out of the furlough scheme; additional support for communities and a recall of Parliament to properly hold the government to account.”