OMI-NOUS
Dominic Raab drops biggest hint yet that extra restrictions WILL come in before Christmas amid Omicron surge
THERE are no "hard and fast guarantees" more restrictions won't be imposed by Christmas to tackle the Omicron tsunami, Dominic Raab warned today.
The Deputy PM hoped family festivities would be better than last year's lockdown - but said ministers would pull the trigger "earlier rather than later" if forced.
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Boris Johnson has called an emergency Cabinet meeting 2pm today for a crunch decision on whether to tighten the rules.
Laying bare the Covid picture, Mr Raab revealed there were now 104 Omicron hospitalisations and 12 deaths.
And he continued to hammer home the government's plea that the best weapon in our inventory are vaccines by urging everyone to get their boosters.
Volunteers are signing up in droves to help out the campaign effort including the heroic recruits of The Sun's Jabs Army.
But there are growing fears that the Government could once again announce snap restrictions throwing Christmas plans into chaos.
In major developments:
- Gloomy scientists ramped up their calls for a Christmas circuit-breaker
- Cabinet rowed over whether more measures were really needed
- Businesses begged the PM not to wreck their Christmas trading window
- The 10-day Covid isolation rule could be cut to just a week
- Schools were warned they could face disruption until Easter
The PM is so far resisting demands from doomster scientists to press the panic button and is standing firm with his two-pronged strategy of jabs and Plan B.
Mr Raab said this morning: "We will have a much better Christmas than last year because of the vaccination level, both the overall vaccination level but particularly the impact of the booster campaign, and we saw on Saturday, just in one day, 900,000 people get their booster."
Yet he refused to calm the fears of millions that their Christmases will once again be wrecked by harsh measures.
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Pressed on the likelihood of fresh curbs he said: "I do think that again, subject to the data, and it's always under review, we're in a better position to enjoy Christmas with loved ones this year."
And he would not even rule out a fresh squeeze on Christmas Day, saying: "Well, I just can't make hard and fast guarantees."
Mr Raab said the variant is doubling every two or three days but "what’s less clear is what the severity is in terms of death and that’s because of the time lag."
He added ominously: "We want to take informed decisions earlier rather than later."
NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Yesterday Health Secretary Sajid Javid also refused to rule out more restrictions over Christmas.
Gloomy scientists and politicians are demanding the PM acts now to stop hospitals being crippled with a New Year surge of patients.
Leaked SAGE minutes warned that "more stringent measures would need to be implemented very soon".
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan are also calling for immediate action.
The PM is understood to be mulling options to tighten the rules over the festive period.
One presented by officials involves urging the public to limit the number of people they socialise with indoors in England, reports claim.
But meanwhile he's being pulled the other way by angry Tory MPs hell bent on stopping any new lockdown.
Downing St has promised to recall Parliament in the event any new restrictions are imposed.
Mutinous backbenchers are gearing up to vote against any more measures that would wreck the economic recovery and spread more misery.
Top doc Sir Patrick Vallance is briefing Tory MPs on the latest data this afternoon.
Mr Johnson is also facing splits within his Cabinet, with Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Nadhim Zahawi understood to be against more measures.
One government source said: "Either we trust the vaccines work or we don't. We need to move from pandemic to endemic. To save Christmas, SAGE needs stuffing."
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Downing Street today refused to speculate on any fresh restrictions.
The PM's spokesman said: "We will take any necessary steps in the interest of protecting lives and livelihoods. That's what we have sought to do throughout."
Dominic Raab- 'lockdown plans are under constant review'