Boris Johnson and Michael Gove clash over length of second lockdown amid Tory backlash over chaotic U-turn

‘This is very much seen as a 28-day set of measures, then we will go back to the regional approach,’ No 10 insists

Downing Street has slapped down Michael Gove for suggesting the new four-week lockdown could be extended, exposing splits at the heart of government over Covid-19 policy.

As scientists warned that surging infections would put the 2 December expiry plan in jeopardy, Boris Johnson’s effective deputy called it a “review” date – saying: “We’ll always be driven by the data.”

But No 10 sought to stamp on the idea of even longer restrictions, amid a Tory backlash over the chaotic U-turn. “This is very much seen as a 28-day set of measures, then we will go back to the regional approach,” a source told The Independent.

Mr Johnson will seek to face down growing backbench unrest over the new restrictions on Monday, when he is expected to tell MPs modellings suggests deaths over winter could be more than twice the toll of the first wave and “there is no alternative” but to lock down nationally.

It comes after one senior Conservative, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood, warned “No 10 is just overwhelmed”, calling for the Cabinet to move onto a “war footing”.

He pleaded for “slicker decision-making” and for a proper split between “policy creation versus operational delivery” – in a Downing Street seen as dominated by Dominic Cummings.

Mr Gove was forced to deny he leaked that the lockdown was coming, after a meeting of just four ministers on Friday, sparking “absolute mayhem” and bringing forward the announcement.

“We don’t know how that information found itself in the hands of others,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Programme – revealing the cabinet secretary was investigating.

However, the first snap poll revealed strong public backing for the dramatic steps taken, with 72 per cent of people in England supporting another lockdown.

YouGov found that 73 per cent believed it will be easy to follow new rules for four weeks – with 30 per cent saying the government should have gone further and only 20 per cent that the restrictions were too harsh.

In other events, ahead of the lockdown coming in – in England – on Thursday:

* Northern leaders Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram broke with the consensus, by arguing schools must close if it is to be successful.

* The Welsh and Scottish governments protested at the revival of the furlough scheme for England’s lockdown – when workers were denied the wage top-ups during their shutdowns.

* Keir Starmer warned an extension is inevitable, unless the four weeks are used to fix the failing test and trace system.

* Both the self-employed, eager to hear about the financial offer to be given, and the relatives of care home residents – in limbo about visits – were left waiting for news.

* A rule change was announced to allow parents to meet friends or family outdoors with a baby or toddler, with children under school age not counting towards the two-person limit.

Speaking on Sky News, asked if the lockdown could be extended, Mr Gove replied simply: “Yes” – although he later expressed the belief that four weeks would “reduce the R rate below one”.

But Mark Walport, a member of the Sage advisory group of scientists, warned the lockdown could be even longer than the first one, saying: “It’s obviously a possibility, yes.

On the rising infection rate, he said: “It’s unlikely this time to come down quite as fast as it did during the first lockdown because we have got schools open.”

Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust and another Sage adviser, echoed the warning, saying lockdown lifting “may have to be revisited in the next four weeks in order to get R below one and the epidemic shrinking”.

Some Conservative MPs lashed out at the new restrictions, with former leader Iain Duncan Smith attacking “giving in to the advice of scientific advisers” without heeding “the health of the economy”.

Charles Walker, another senior backbencher, protested: “Come spring, we won’t have a first world economy anymore. This is utterly catastrophic.”

MPs will debate and vote on the new measures on Wednesday, with several Conservatives likely to rebel against the government.

Tory ex-minister Sir Desmond Swayne said it would take a “huge amount of persuasion for me to vote for this disastrous course of action”.

Former Cabinet minister Esther McVey said she would vote against them because the “‘lockdown cure’ is causing more harm than Covid”.

However, only a small minority are expected to vote against the new lockdown - which is certain to be approved with Labour support.

Mr Gove denied the regional three-tier approach had been “a failure” – even though it had been abandoned – insisting Covid-19 had spread faster than anyone had anticipated just a few weeks ago.

Asked about the Sage recommendation for a two-week “circuit break – made way back on 21 September – the Cabinet Office minister claimed: “It was not necessary at that point.”