Remembrance Sunday: Socially-distanced commemorations to be permitted, despite new lockdown

Televised service to take place at Cenotaph in Whitehall

Prime minister Boris Johnson buys a Royal British Legion poppy ahead of Remembrance Sunday (AP)

Remembrance events are to be allowed to go ahead this Sunday, and on Armistice Day next week, despite the introduction of tough lockdown restrictions across England, Downing Street has said.

A televised national service - expected to involve senior politicians and members of the royal family - will be held at the Cenotaph in London.

And local authorities across England will be told that events may go ahead, so long as they take place outside and are socially distanced.

New rules coming into effect in England from Thursday require people to remain in their homes apart from a strictly limited set of exemptions.

These include shopping for food and other essentials, education, work - if it cannot be done from home, exercise with members of your household or one person from outside the household, medical appointments, volunteering, providing care for the vulnerable or in order to avoid harm or injury.

The exemptions are due to be set out in detail later this week before they are voted into law by MPs on Wednesday and come into effect at a minute past midnight on Thursday.

But Downing Street made clear that participation in Covid-secure remembrance events will also be covered by the exemptions.

“We are certainly not cancelling Remembrance Sunday events, but we must be mindful of the risk that such events pose, especially to veterans who are often elderly,” said prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman.

“We are saying to local authorities in England that they may organise remembrance services, but they should be outside and social distancing should be maintained.

“It’s important that the country can continue to come together to remember the sacrifice of those who have died in the service of their country.

“We will make sure that Remembrance Sunday is appropriately commemorated while protecting public health.”

No list of attendees has yet been released for the event at the Cenotaph in London’s Whitehall.