Boris Johnson has issued a new “stay at home” order, covering London and most of the south and east of England, and drastically restricted plans for Christmas mixing, in response to a new, fast-spreading strain of coronavirus.
Despite reassuring the British public that the festive “bubble” plan would go ahead – and claiming it would be “inhuman” to cancel Christmas – the prime minister has done just that, announcing the creation of a stricter set of ‘tier 4’ rules.
Only households outside tier 4 will now be able to mix for Christmas in England – and those households will only be able to do so for Christmas Day, with long-distance travel discouraged.
Hot on the heels of Johnson’s earlier refusal to call of the Christmas easing, the prime minister’s announcement caused many to call into question his suitability for the top job…
Related: Johnson announces ‘tier 4’ and cuts back Christmas mixing in England