Politics

However, Sage colleague Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter said it is “perfectly reasonable” to return to a tiered approach but warned a national easing over Christmas will have costs.

This drop is partly driven by 2019 Labour voters, whose confidence in the party leader has fallen slightly following his suspension of the whip from Jeremy Corbyn.

“We should not be going for a deal at any price, that would be the wrong thing to do and I think there are things that are important to us in these negotiations, and we’ve been entirely, as I said, reasonable, consistent and transparent.”

“Once again, untrustworthy Johnson has demonstrated the Tories don’t care about the needs of the people of Scotland. The only way to properly protect Scotland’s interests is to become an independent, European country.”

Downing Street Press Office did not deny suggestions that Boris Johnson had tried to tone down report on Priti Patel's behaviour.

“This ongoing uncertainty, coupled with the immense stress created by the pandemic, is holding back the economy, investment and British business."

“For the first time as far as I can remember we have a prime minister that doesn’t seem willing to stand up for high standards in public life.”

"There are Priti Patels in every industry. In mine they are the ones who are sweet and charming with the producers & directors and total c*nts to the runners."

Sir Alex Allen's decision comes after the Prime Minister contradicted his advice by keeping Priti Patel on as Home Secretary, despite the adviser finding her conduct “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying”.