Politics latest news: Booster jab rollout must go 'as fast as possible' amid fears of winter Covid surge, Boris Johnson warns

• 'Plan C': Household mixing ban if NHS becomes overwhelmed

• France may block UK from EU research programme over fishing row

• Vaccinated people dying of Covid have average age of 85 and underlying illnesses

• Analysis: The ways we will be 'nudged' this winter

• Comment: How do you solve a problem like GP appointments?

The booster vaccine programme must go “as fast as possible”, Boris Johnson has urged amid fears of surging coronavirus cases this winter.

Mr Johnson insisted the Government was sticking with its original plan despite high levels of infections, but said the “most important thing” in the coming weeks will be vaccine uptake.

Everyone over the age of 50 should be receiving their third dose of a vaccine as soon as they are eligible, the Prime Minister said.

“On the patchiness of the programme, what I would say is that this time there's certainly no shortage of supply,” Mr Johnson told Sky News. “We've got huge quantities of vaccines.

“Come forward and get it when the time comes, it's a demand issue. We really urge people to come and do it. On the issue of timing we need to keep going as fast as possible.”

Mr Johnson also did not rule out reducing the time frame between second and third doses from six months to five. Jeremy Hunt, the former Tory health secretary, today urged the Government to cut the timeframe in the run-up to Christmas.

​​Follow the latest updates below.

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03:09 PM

That's all for today...

Boris Johnson said the vaccine booster programme must proceed “as fast as possible” today, as Government ministers lined up to rule out an imminent move to so-called ‘Plan B’ measures.

The Prime Minister used a broadcast interview to confirm that the response to the latest wave of the virus would remain focused on third vaccine doses and efforts to convince unvaccinated people to come forward.

Despite the “patchiness” of the rollout, which has now seen around four million third doses administered, Mr Johnson emphasised the need for everyone over the age of 50 to answer the call as soon as they are offered a jab.

“Come forward and get it when the time comes, it's a demand issue. We really urge people to come and do it. On the issue of timing we need to keep going as fast as possible,” he told Sky News.

The Prime Minister also suggested he will consider a suggestion from Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, to reduce the gap between second and third doses from six months to five.

And amid calls from medical chiefs to reintroduce measures such as social distancing, health minister Edward Argar said pressures on the NHS remain at “sustainable” levels.

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02:51 PM

NHS cash being spent on football season tickets, beach huts and theme park trips

NHS cash is being spent on football season tickets, National Trust memberships and renting beach huts, an investigation has revealed.

Restaurant meals, Amazon Prime membership, PlayStation consoles and theme park passes have also been funded under the health service system of “personal budgets”.

Under the schemes, regular users of healthcare are allowed to decide how best funds on them are spent.

However, critics have expressed concern that the system is open to abuse, with concern about the use of funds when the NHS is under pressure.

Laura Donnelly has the story

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02:32 PM

How do you solve a problem like GP appointments?

Relations between Ministers and GPs, rarely warm at the best of times, have soured still further in their recent clashes over face-to-face appointments, writes Tim Worstall.

The government says that GPs should be doing the job they're paid for – seeing patients. Yet many GPs accuse the Government of being "out-of-touch", arguing that in-person consultations aren't always needed, and may overwork or even endanger them.

The system – rooted in poor planning and perverse incentives – doesn't seem to be working for anyone at the moment. But are there ways of altering these incentives, to improve the outcomes?

First of all we have to understand why the problem of GP shortages exists. One key factor is the increasing feminisation of the GP labour force. In itself that's not a problem, it's a glory – demonstrating the economic emancipation of women. Yet this does have implications, which should be well understood.

Tim Worstall: Less reporting, less bureaucracy, less central management will all be part of the solution

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02:23 PM

Boris Johnson: 'Endless cycle' of Northern Ireland veteran trials must stop

Boris Johnson has said the "endless cycle" of Northern Ireland veterans being tried must come to an end.

Mr Johnson said the death of Dennis Hutchings on Tuesday was "really tragic". Mr Hutchings, who was 80, was on trial over a fatal shooting that took place during the Troubles in 1974,

"I felt very very sad for him and for all his family," Mr Johnson said. "This is the issue we've been trying to address. His particular case of course, that case started before this Government came in so no matter what we did we wouldn't have been able to stop that one.

"But we want to tell the story of what's happened in the Troubles, to try and bring as much reconciliation and understanding as possible but to bring an end to the endless cycle by which people are being brought to court with no new evidence really for things that have been tried and heard many, many years ago.

"That's the thing I think people want to end and we want to find a solution that brings people together, allows people to grieve but also allows people to move on."

Johnny Mercer: My friend Dennis Hutchings died because our cowardly leaders won't end witch hunts

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02:14 PM

Northern Ireland Protocol must change - and fast, says the Prime Minister

The Northern Ireland Protocol has to be changed "pretty fast", Boris Johnson has said after attending a service to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland (see 11.51am).

Describing himself as a passionate unionist, Mr Johnson told Sky News: "There is an issue with the Protocol and we need to thrash that out and we can't go on forever with this question.

"It's affecting real people and real lives and real business right now because of the way the Protocol is being interpreted. I don't think that it's coherent with the Good Friday Agreement because it does create these unnecessary checks down the Irish Sea.

"So we need to flush it out pretty fast and change the causes of the problem, and not the symptoms, and I think we need to move pretty fast."

The European Union this month tabled a series of proposals designed to reform the Protocol - including ripping up its own rulebook on import checks - but there is still some distance between Maros Sefcovic, the bloc's negotiator, and Brexit minister Lord Frost.

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01:56 PM

Jeremy Hunt: Cut booster vaccine waiting times to five months instead of six

Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, has suggested the Government should change its rule that people must wait six months before getting Covid-19 booster jabs to improve protection before Christmas.

Under the current rules, people most vulnerable to Covid-19, including all those aged over 50, are allowed to get a third Covid jab but must wait six months after their second to do so.

However, there are concerns not enough people are coming forward to get the booster jabs, with Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, saying yesterday that the Government needs more people to get jabbed.

Mr Hunt, a Tory MP, made the suggestion of changing the six-month wait to possibly five months during a House of Commons debate.

Ben Riley-Smith has more

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01:39 PM

Mask off moment

Labour today called on Conservative MPs to "set the highest possible, best example to the public" by wearing face coverings in the Commons.

"One can have a very natty matching mask to go with one's outfit," said Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Leader of the House. "The Right Honourable Gentleman may wish to have a chat with his tailor to see what they can construct, I strongly urge him to do so."

But Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, said he "may retweet a picture from the socialists' conference that took place recently" - referring to the Labour Party conference, where masks were few and far between.

"There are all these luminaries of the Opposition and their faces are naked and unadorned. What I have heard about the drinks parties sponsored by the Daily Mirror at the socialist party conference... Well I don't know if they're able to get their drinks through their masks."

Mr Rees-Mogg said masks are "worn more by socialists when television cameras are around", and suggested Conservative MPs "know each other" and have a "convivial fraternal spirit" - claiming they do not need to mask up as a result of this.

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01:27 PM

'Technology saves us: Oxford sees a $26 trillion gain from net zero'

Eliminate the word "cost" from the net zero lexicon. The relevant concept is how much we gain, insists Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.

A team of mathematicians at Oxford University has carried out the world’s best study so far of the economic windfall to be had from a turbo-charged decarbonisation based on unstoppable leaps and bounds in known technology.

It concluded that the net gain is $26 trillion (£19 trillion), or $14 trillion under cautious assumptions. The faster it happens, the bigger the benefit.

It can be achieved in 25 years, beating the global target of 2050. Most changes do not require lavish state funding any more than public money is needed to make mobile phones.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Decarbonisation is no burden, but a bonanza

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01:13 PM

Theresa May speaks at James Brokenshire's funeral

Theresa May, the former Prime Minister and Home Secretary, has delivered a reading at the funeral of James Brokenshire (see 12.31pm).

In the House of Commons yesterday, Mrs May said: "James was a remarkable man. He was an outstanding minister, a great constituency Member of Parliament and a true friend."

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12:58 PM

'We need a referendum on net zero to save Britain from the green blob'

Does the blob never learn? asks Allister Heath.

Allister Heath: The elite is imposing a revolution without consent

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12:44 PM

Tory MPs should wear masks in the Commons, says Government adviser

Conservative MPs should wear masks in the House of Commons, a behavioural scientist advising the Government has urged.

Professor Robert West, a member of Spi-B, told the BBC: "Actually people who are ambivalent, it gives them a kind of excuse if you like to say, 'If they're not doing it why should I do it?'

"It's about leadership. And politicians often talk to members of the public and sports personalities and so on about setting a right example for the public, and I do think it behoves them to do the same thing."

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, yesterday said it was "very fair" for a journalist to have asked him why he was encouraging members of the public to wear face coverings while many of his party's MPs do not do so themselves.

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12:30 PM

'Germany doesn't want a Polexit': Merkel on collision course with Macron at last summit

Angela Merkel will put herself on a collision course with Emmanuel Macron as she calls for European Union leaders to back down in the rule-of-law battle with Poland amid mounting fears the dispute could collapse the bloc.

The departing German Chancellor fears escalating the row over the primacy of EU law could end in “Polexit” if her colleagues continue to push for sanctions against Warsaw.

Her intervention, at what will be her 107th and potentially last European Council summit, will pit her directly against President Macron, leaders of the Benelux countries and the European Parliament, who have all called for the European Commission to use its “conditionality mechanism” to withhold tens of billions of euros in EU funding.

European leaders are set to clash with Poland later today over its alleged abuse of the EU’s democratic values, after the country’s constitutional court ruled that its rules have supremacy over the bloc’s laws.

Joe Barnes and Henry Samuel have this report

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12:16 PM

Covid booster jab booking system blocking patients from getting vaccines

The NHS system for booking booster jabs is blocking patients from getting their vaccine, it has emerged, despite the Health Secretary’s pledge that anyone eligible can use the website, reports Lizzie Roberts.

Sajid Javid confirmed on Wednesday that over-50s can book their Covid booster within a week of becoming eligible, even if they have not received an invitation from the NHS.

“If you haven’t been invited within a week of reaching that six-month milestone then please, get on to the National Booking Service and book online or phone 119,” Mr Javid said at a press conference from Downing Street.

He added: “We really could lose that progress if people don’t take up their vaccination offers.”

But eligible patients said the website is still blocking them from making an appointment and called on the Health Secretary to fix the website rather than blaming patients.

Trouble booking jabs comes despite Javid's pledge

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12:01 PM

How we will be ‘nudged’ this winter

There’s a chill in the air, writes Laura Dodsworth. Not from the changing seasons – it’s still fairly balmy – but from the latest attempts to orchestrate a subtle psychological manipulation of us all.

About 18 months ago, in the lockdown summer of 2020, I started to argue that the Government’s response to Covid is driven not so much by medical science or epidemiology, but instead by the psychological insights of behavioural scientists.

In my book, A State of Fear: How the UK Government Weaponised Fear During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I argue that controversial “nudge theory” lies at the heart of Westminster’s response. It refers to sneaky attempts to prime, prepare and prod us into their desired mindset and course of action, without us ever realising we are being coerced.

Some responses to my book seemed naive. Many believed that Downing Street’s approach was genuinely grounded in public health epidemiology. Now, I think the dial is starting to move; the Government’s strategy becomes ever-more clear.

Once nudge is seen, it can’t be unseen. Behavioural scientists were dazzling the public with card tricks. This week, the Government may have overplayed its hand.

Laura Dodsworth: Are the 'save Christmas' brigade up to their old tricks?

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11:54 AM

'No formal advice to implement Plan B has been submitted'

Downing Street today insisted it has not been given any formal advice from scientific government advisers to trigger Plan B in its Winter Covid-19 plan, writes Ben Riley-Smith, our Political Editor.

The comment comes after public speculation about the stances of Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, and Prof Chris Whitty, its chief medical adviser.

A Number 10 source told The Telegraph on Thursday morning: “No formal advice to implement Plan B has been submitted.”

However the remark leaves open the possibility that there have been more informal discussions about whether now is the right time to bring in tougher Covid measures.

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11:49 AM

Pressure on the NHS is still 'sustainable', says minister

Pressure on the NHS remains “sustainable” despite calls for new coronavirus restrictions, a minister has said.

Edward Argar was responding to calls from some health leaders to reintroduce some Covid rules after more than 49,000 cases were confirmed yesterday.

“The NHS, while under huge pressure at the moment, it is a sustainable pressure,” Mr Argar said.

“We have a challenging winter coming, you’d normally have me on to talk about winter pressures in the NHS and flu. The NHS is coping with a difficult situation, but there are a lot of factors we need to look at.”

The Government does not have an “arbitrary figure” for triggering new restrictions but will instead look at a combination of hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations, the health minister told Sky News.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has demanded the return of compulsory face coverings and social distancing measures to tackle an “unacceptable” rate of infections.

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, yesterday warned that Britain could see 100,000 cases a day as he urged people to have their booster jabs to keep their freedoms.

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11:31 AM

Mourners arrive for funeral of James Brokenshire

Mourners and politicians including the Chancellor and the Home Secretary have arrived at the funeral of James Brokenshire.

Mr Brokenshire, a Conservative MP and the former Northern Ireland Secretary, died aged 53 on October 8 after he was diagnosed with lung cancer just over three years ago.

Boris Johnson yesterday praised his work in looking to dispel the stigma and myths around lung cancer, and hailed him as a "gentleman politician".

Theresa May, the former Prime Minister who worked closely with Mr Brokenshire across the Home Office and then during her own administration, told the Commons: "He gave dedicated public service to this country. The Government is the poorer for his loss, this Parliament is the poorer for his loss and this country is the poorer for his loss."

• Obituary: Sure-footed Tory who rose rapidly to ministerial rank

• James Brokenshire and the tragedy of midlife lung cancer

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11:16 AM

Bang goes Christmas fun in Northern Ireland as crackers caught up in EU red tape

Christmas crackers exported to Northern Ireland must be exempt from Brexit red tape in the same way as British sausages, Tory and DUP politicians have said.

British cracker makers face burdensome regulations for the first time this Christmas if they want to export to Northern Ireland because of Brexit and the Irish Sea border.

The dinner diversions are subject to new paperwork and testing rules because the UK left the EU on December 31 after the Brexit deal was struck on Christmas Eve last year.

Northern Ireland continues to follow some Single Market rules, including those on pyrotechnics, from non-EU countries, to prevent a hard land border with EU member Ireland under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

​James Crisp, our Europe Editor, has all the details

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11:02 AM

Covid vaccine makers blamed for 'onerous' contracts as dose donations dry up

Western governments have promised to donate billions of doses of coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries in a bid to end the pandemic. But so far, those promises have been largely empty: all talk, no jabs.

In fact, of the 1.8 billion doses pledged by rich nations, only 261 million doses - 14 per cent - have been delivered so far, according to a report from the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a pressure group pushing for equal access to jabs.

But it has transpired that at least part of the problem stems from onerous legal restrictions imposed on countries by vaccine manufacturers.

Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, is among those who have encouraged the UK to do "far, far more" (see 9.17am) to help the developing world, as it emerged that Britain took 500,000 doses back from the Covax scheme.

​Jennifer Rigby has the story

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10:51 AM

PM attends Reflection and Hope service for Northern Ireland centenary

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is attending the Service of Reflection and Hope to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland at Saint Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral.

The Queen was scheduled to attend the event but has instead been represented by Lord Caledon, the Lord-Lieutenant of County Armagh, after she was advised against travel for a few days.

A number of politicians from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are also in attendance, including Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, although Michael D Higgins, the Irish president, declined the invitation.

Dr Sahr Yambasu, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, told the service: "As we lament our failures, sorrows and pain, and recognise our wounded yet living history, may we with a united voice commit ourselves to work together for the common good, in mutual respect and with shared hope for a light-filled, prosperous and peaceful future."

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10:37 AM

France prepared to block UK membership of EU research programme over Brexit fishing row

France will block the UK’s associate membership to the EU’s €100bn research programme unless Britain grants it more post-Brexit fishing licences.

Paris has made clear it will veto the already delayed associate membership of the flagship Horizon Europe programme, It would enable British universities, companies and researchers to continue bidding for pan-European funding after Brexit.

Emmanuel Macron has set a two week deadline for the UK and Jersey to back down in the row over licences and is furious that the UK approved just 15 permits for small French fishing boats to operate in its coastal waters out of 47 applications.

The French government is expected to announce a series of measures it could take against the UK by the end of the week, which could include go-slow customs checks at Calais and UK ships turned away from French ports.

France’s Europe Minister Clement Beaune said “The British want access to European programmes, scientific exchanges, research funding...they want to participate, we are saying first respect the agreement.”

Paris prepared to retaliate if UK does not grant more licences

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10:25 AM

Thornberry and Trevelyan clash on New Zealand deal

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, said the trade deal with New Zealand will slash red tape and make it easier for smaller companies to break into the market.

"This deal will be a modern partnership for the 21st century - two staunch democracies working together to meet global challenges from climate change to the future of digital trade. Together we will embrace the opportunities of the global marketplace to support jobs, enterprise and wealth creation.

"We will fuel our recovery from the Covid crisis through free trade and demonstrate it is part of the solution to the greatest challenges of our time."

Emily Thornberry, the Labour shadow minister for international trade secretary, said there was "much to digest" from the agreement, and focused on the impact of the deal on farmers.

According to the Government's own forecasts in summer 2020, Ms Thornberry pointed out, British farmers would be undercut by the deal. She said export quotas are "so high they are utterly meaningless" and raised fears New Zealand can undercut British producers on beef, butter and lamb.

"These are bad deals for our farming industry. They will undermine the competitiveness of our farmers and the standards they are required to maintain."

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10:19 AM

Anne-Marie Trevelyan on New Zealand deal

A UK-New Zealand free trade agreement will be another major trade deal like our agreement with Australia, so this marks a significant step towards the UK's aim to join the £8.4 billion CPTPP trade area.

The UK and New Zealand trade relationship was worth £2.3 billion last year and is set to grow under this deal

This agreement will take on some of the biggest global challenges from climate change to gender equality and respect for Indigenous peoples and the future of digital trade. This deal is part of the Government's commitment to build back better - bringing the benefits of trade to level up all parts of our country.

Our shared history with New Zealand, common values and commitment with free trade is matched by a dedication to high standards and rule of law. It makes complete sense to do a trade deal with New Zealand which will continue to strengthen our longstanding relationship as allies and friends.

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10:00 AM

Covid likely to be fatal ‘only for the very old and already infirm’

People who are vaccinated against Covid are highly unlikely to die of the virus unless they are very old and already ill, writes Sarah Knapton.

The data, from a study in Italy, adds more pressure on the UK Government to speed up the booster programme for protecting double jabbed older and vulnerable people who will be beginning to lose immunity.

Analysis by the Italian National Health Institute, which looked at deaths in the country between Feb 1 and Oct 5, showed major disparities in people who were dying from Covid after being fully jabbed.

It found the average age of death in the vaccinated was 85, and that on average each person had five underlying illnesses when they caught Covid. In contrast, the average age of death among the unvaccinated was 78, with those people having four pre-existing conditions on average.

Cases of heart problems, dementia and cancer were all found to be higher in the sample of deaths among those vaccinated.

Read the full story here

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09:54 AM

Covid hospitalisations lower than they were a few months ago

Maggie Throup acknowledged the number of coronavirus hospitalisations is lower than it was a few months ago in response to a question from Mark Harper, the chairman of the Covid Recovery Group.

"People do not need to wait as long as they are six months plus one week past the time they had their second jab," she insisted.

On how the current wave of the virus can be mitigated, she said: "When people see the levels rising, they will perhaps make decisions to wear their face coverings in more venues."

There was further tumult among Tory lockdown sceptics as Steve Brine, the MP for Winchester, hit out at a "depressingly familiar drumbeat" towards gradually increasing lockdown measures.

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09:50 AM

Vaccines minister should attend Cabinet, insists Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt, chairman of the health and social care committee, reflected on how 400,000 people a day were being jabbed at the peak of the vaccine rollout.

Spain, France and Italy have had lower death and case rates because of higher vaccine immunity, he said.

Mr Hunt asked if it "really matters" whether someone had their first jab after five months instead of six, and questioned whether she needed to be a Cabinet minister considering her responsibility for vaccines.

Ms Throup meets regularly with the Prime Minister, she responded, and sought to reassure the House that immunity "does not fall off a cliff edge - it has waned slightly but not sufficiently".

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09:45 AM

Minister 'disappointed' with Jonathan Ashworth's tone

Ms Throup said she was "disappointed with the tone" of the shadow health secretary.

"The Government is carrying out the autumn and winter plan with Plan A and Plan B, and Plan A is still what we are working to," she told the Commons. "It's incredible how many people have taken up the [vaccine] offer and are now coming forward for their boosters."

She noted there was now more choice for parents, who can take their children to vaccination centres if aged between 12 and 15.

"One important factor to consider is to ensure those 4.7 million people who haven't yet taken up the offer of their first jab are encouraged to come forward.

"With regards to the flu vaccine programme, once again it's an extremely important programme and that will help to protect you and the people around you."

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09:41 AM

Plan C 'would be lockdown by the back door'

Maggie Throup, the under-secretary for health and social care, said a written ministerial statement was provided to Parliament, with the press conference serving to appeal to the public.

Ms Throup said the Government will continue to pursue "Plan A to its full extent".

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, questioned how pressures on the NHS were "sustainable" in light of backed up ambulance queues and cancelled cancer operations, and asked if there has ever been "a more complacent attitude" towards winter.

Mr Ashworth said a Plan C, as reported by The Telegraph today, would be "lockdown by the back door". He asked for assurance that both national and local lockdowns would be ruled out.

"Ministers can't blame the public when two million people haven't even been invited for a booster jab. On current trends we won't complete the booster jabs programme until March 2022. The wall of defence is crumbling - you have to get ahead of [this virus], otherwise it gets ahead of you."

He called on the minister to fix a "stalling" vaccination drive.

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09:36 AM

Sajid Javid reprimanded for going to media and TV before Parliament

Sajid Javid should have made Covid announcements in Parliament instead of briefing the media and on television, the Speaker of the House of Commons has insisted.

"I have repeatedly made it clear that the Government should make important first announcements in this House," Sir Lindsay Hoyle said.

"However once again yesterday an important announcement was made by the Department for Health and Social Care to the media before being made to this House."

This explains today's written question and urgent question on the same topic.

"[Sajid Javid] also set out his views on how members should behave in this chamber, if they should wear masks. Don't do it from Downing Street, do it to the members he's talking to!"

Sir Lindsay said it was an "embarrassing situation" that the media had been briefed before the House of Commons, and warned if it continued to happen then more urgent questions would continue to follow.

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09:25 AM

Don’t mention the ‘B’ word: ‘Brexit’ is taboo at festival to celebrate Britain leaving the EU

The Festival of Brexit was billed as a celebration of the UK’s bright future outside the European Union. However, festivities have already soured after it was confirmed the name would not remain, write Christopher Hope and Craig Simpson.

Organisers have shunned the “Brexit” label for the event, which now features arts projects spanning abandoned oil rigs and Wales’s uncertain future. Furious MPs called the newly branded scheme “meaningless”.

The £120 million celebration of Brexit first announced in 2018 was known under the working title of Festival UK 2022, and has now conclusively distanced itself from all links to Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The nationwide arts programme to take place next year will be known simply as Unboxed, following PR work to convey the project’s vision of being “open, original and optimistic”.

What was once hailed by some as a celebration of Brexit will feature 10 projects, including a decommissioned oil rig being placed in a former lido in Weston-super-Mare, and a TV drama set in a near-future Wales which could be independent from the UK.

Read more: Furious MPs call newly-branded Unboxed scheme 'meaningless'

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09:13 AM

'Copycat' killer risk after Sir David Amess attack, warns former terror chief

The brutal attack on Sir David Amess could inspire 'copycat' killers, a former terror chief has warned.

Sir Peter Fahy, the former national lead for Prevent, the Government’s counter-radicalism programme, said "certain disturbed individuals may see this as a way of getting themselves some publicity".

The former chief constable for Greater Manchester Police also warned that terror organisations may use the fatal stabbing of the MP to "encourage" their followers to carry out "similar attacks".

It comes after Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, revealed on Wednesday evening that intelligence officers had upgraded the threat level to politicians as "substantial".

But a review from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre linked to MI5 has not found a "specific or imminent threat".

Max Stephens has the full story

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09:02 AM

Mixing with other households could be banned under 'Plan C'

Mixing with people from other households could once again be banned, under measures being discussed by the Cabinet Office, The Telegraph understands.

Ministers yesterday threatened new restrictions, with the Health Secretary saying the public must "play their part" in order to enjoy Christmas with loved ones.

Urging wider take-up of jabs, Sajid Javid said the Government would not implement "Plan B" measures such as mandatory masks, advice to work from home, and vaccine passports "at this point".

However, The Telegraph understands the Cabinet Office is already considering plans for a potential “Plan C” - which would see mixing between households banned, if pressures on hospitals mount.

Asked about the reports this morning, health minister Edward Agar said ministers "look at alternatives, as we've done with our Plan B".

But Mr Argar added: "The specifics of that, and what was mooted about limiting household mixing, isn't something that is being actively considered."

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08:51 AM

New Zealand trade deal: Trevelyan grilled on benefits to British farming

Emily Thornberry, the shadow international trade secretary, noted a Government report from June 2020 that forecast "a reduction in output and employment in the UK agriculture sector" as a result of a trade deal along the lines of that struck with New Zealand last night.

Ms Trevelyan responded: "I am very confident that the trade deal struck will provide the opportunity for our wonderful food producers to continue to sell their goods across the world, and as we make more trade deals creating new markets for them also."

Ms Thornberry urged the secretary of state to confirm whether the new deals will both be scrutinised and provide a benefit to British farmers. In response, Ms Trevelyan assured her that both deals will be examined very carefully.

At her first parliamentary question session as International Trade Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the new Trade and Agricultural Commission will play "an important role in scrutinising trade agreements after signature".

The Commission will be in place to scrutinise the free trade agreement with Australia, Ms Trevelyan revealed. On the impact of shortages on pig farming, meanwhile, Ms Trevelyan said she will pass on concerns to Defra.

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08:40 AM

Free trade will not come at the expense of human rights, says Trevelyan

Human rights will not be sacrificed as the Government signs a greater number of free trade deals, Anne-Marie Trevelyan has vowed.

"The Government is clear that more trade will not come at the expense of human rights," Ms Trevelyan told the Commons. "The UK will continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international rights obligations."

"But by having stronger economic relationships with partners we have the opportunity to open conversations on a range of issues."

A chapter in Britain's new trade deal with New Zealand, confirmed by both partners yesterday, has been hailed as a "good step forward for the recognition of Indigenous rights".

"This is very important to us as we reach out with this new ability to make trade deals with our friends and allies," Ms Trevelyan said. "With New Zealand, for them it took the form an important chapter on Indigenous peoples."

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08:30 AM

Call to let retired doctors jab schoolchildren as vaccinations falter

Retired medics should be drafted in to vaccinate pupils, ministers have been told, as the target for vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds looks set to be missed, reports Harry Yorke.

Despite the Government setting a target of vaccinating the majority of eligible pupils against Covid by half-term week, just 15 per cent in the cohort have received a jab, compared with more than 40 per cent in Scotland.

On Wednesday night, teaching unions blamed the delays on administrative errors and a shortage of school nurses. They said errors had resulted in immunisation teams turning up with fewer jabs than required or cancelling appointments at short notice.

Echoing concerns of school leaders, Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, urged ministers to consider recruiting retired clinicians to help plug the gaps in the school vaccine programme.

"Retired clinicians were brought back onto the register and allowed to vaccinate in the first rollout, but they don't appear to be mobilised for schools," he said. "There is a lack of grip here, and ministers need to stop vacillating and start vaccinating."

Read more: Rollout by end of half-term 'most definitely isn't happening'

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08:17 AM

It is your civic duty to get vaccinated, suggests Tony Blair

It is a "civic duty" for Britons to get vaccinated, Tony Blair has suggested.

In an interview with Sky News, the former PM said: "It's not just you who suffers if you don't [get vaccinated], it's also other people. And there are people who are unvaccinated, they come into contact with people - and if those people have got a serious underlying condition they can actually die as a result of that."

"I understand people's objections but at some point you've got to say to people the evidence is crystal clear. There's no serious person disputing it and to get vaccinated is almost part of your civic duty."

Mr Blair encouraged ministers to do "far, far more" in getting vaccine supplies to the developing world, as it was reported Britain took 500,000 doses back from the Covax scheme, but lauded the "substantial" efforts of the Government to assist rollouts worldwide.

Quizzed on whether he would return to frontline politics, he said: "I don't think that's on the agenda, which will probably be to the relief of your viewers. No, no, no... I'm not thinking about that at all. But it's kind of you to ask."

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08:08 AM

Act now and speed up booster rollout, urges Tony Blair

Tony Blair has urged the Government to "act now" by speeding up the rollout of booster vaccines.

Mr Blair called for 500,000 booster jabs to be administered a day, for the vaccination of children to be accelerated, and to ensure that pregnant women are reassured about the safety of getting a jab.

"If you look at the UK today and compare it with France, Italy and Germany, our case levels and hospitalisation levels are several times the rate they are in those countries," the former Prime Minister told Sky News.

"It may be that those pressures are sustainable at the moment (see 7.51am), but out of an abundance of caution - as we've always been surprised by the downside of this disease - it would be sensible to take these measures now with that sense of accelerated urgency."

Mr Blair claimed the current situation is not unsustainable "but it could develop that way", and so the Government could be doing more to encourage the uptake of vaccinations.

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08:00 AM

Rubbish-strewn Glasgow braced for humiliation on world stage at Cop26

With more than 120 world leaders coming to Glasgow for the UN climate summit, it should have been a once in a generation chance to show off the very best of Britain to the watching world, write Gordon Rayner and Andrew Quinn.

Instead, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and others will be greeted by rubbish-strewn streets, gridlocked roads, cancelled trains, glued-down protesters and a plague of rats after a city under SNP leadership became a “midden”.

Refuse workers and train drivers have announced they will go on strike during the conference, prompting warnings of “world leaders stepping over bin bags” and a “humiliation on the world stage”.

A chronic shortage of accommodation in Glasgow, which has led to a 3,000 per cent increase in the price of hotel rooms, has forced some delegations to book hotels 130 miles away. Two Eastern European cruise liners have also been brought to the Clyde as makeshift dormitories.

• Analysis: Sturgeon and SNP 'risk turning showpiece into embarrassment'

• Ross Clark: After Cop26, the Government won't hesitate to lock us down

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07:54 AM

Face masks in schools reintroduced in Suffolk

Secondary schools in Suffolk have been asked to reintroduce face coverings in a bid to keep them open.

Infections in the area have risen significantly in recent weeks and Ipswich currently has the third-highest case rate in the country

"We’ve seen about 51 per cent of our cases are in the under-19s age group and that’s what been driving a large part of our increase in cases, and particularly in 10-to-14-year-olds," Stuart Keeble, public health director at Suffolk County Council, told Radio 4.

"The focus is very much in schools with our efforts because that’s where the majority of the spread is taking place and we have taken additional action above and beyond face coverings.

"We asked that if a child tested positive and had a sibling then they should stay at home for three days and take a PCR test to break the chain of transmission. With face coverings we’re asking teaching staff to wear a face covering in shared spaces, as well as pupils in secondary schools.

"We have started to see it spread to parents and grandparents, and we've started to see an increase in the age group in secondary schools and an increase in our over-60s rates. There is a concern that it gets to those more vulnerable groups."

Full story: Even parents collecting children will have to wear masks

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07:44 AM

Booster jabs campaign 'key to managing rising cases'

The rollout of booster vaccines is a "complex logistical exercise" which is being continuously looked at by ministers, health minister Edward Argar said.

"The booster campaign is the key, getting these booster jabs and getting the jabs to 12 to 15 year olds is key to managing the infection rise," he told the Today programme. "We’re not short of vaccine, we’re not short of capacity to give the vaccine. We need those arms to come forward to be jabbed."

Sajid Javid "levelled early with people" yesterday by urging them to wear face coverings, meet outside where possible and take regular lateral flow tests, Mr Argar added.

On why England is taking a less stringent approach than Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, he said the weakening of the link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths had been crucial to restoring economic growth.

"Plan A is still working but what [Javid] highlighted is that it is a race between the vaccines, and getting them in people's arms, and the virus. We're still winning the race but that lead is narrowing."

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07:32 AM

British Medical Association has got it wrong on Plan B, says minister

Edward Argar has pushed back on suggestions from the British Medical Assocation and the NHS Confederation to introduce a raft of Plan B measures.

"I have huge respect for them and I deal with them fairly regularly in my role. I don’t always agree with them," he told the Today programme.

"On this, I don’t think they’re right in the timing of saying when to trigger Plan B or whether to trigger Plan B. There is huge pressure on the NHS, that is entirely true. But at the moment I don’t believe it is unsustainable pressure."

Mr Argar said the Government had to make a "judgement call" on whether it was the right time to implement new restrictions, and had concluded for the time being: "It's not."

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07:18 AM

Vaccine rollout in care homes has not mirrored original jabs push, says care chief

The delivery of booster vaccines to care homes has fallen short because it has not mirrored the original rollout, the chair of the National Care Association has said.

"Sadly this is to do with either the availability or the actual rollout isn’t as smooth as the previous one," Nadra Ahmed told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We’re getting some teams coming in to do the flu jab but not having enough booster vaccine to bring that in as well. The entire methodology of getting this booster in is not quite mirroring what we did last time to get the vaccine in."

Some care homes had been in contact with the Association to say they had not been contacted by ministers at all, Ms Ahmed added.

"This is really worrying because they are in the cohort to be having it."

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07:10 AM

Doctors accuse ministers of being ‘wilfully negligent’ after ruling out Covid Plan B

Doctors have accused ministers of being ‘wilfully negligent’ after they ruled out Covid Plan B, writes Max Stephens.

Yesterday's Downing Street press conference saw Sajid Javid “at this point” reject Plan B measures including mandatory face coverings, Covid passports and recommending working from home.

But Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA said doctors "can categorically say that time is now".

Dr Napaul said: "It is therefore incredibly concerning that [Mr Javid] is not willing to take immediate action to save lives and to protect the NHS.”

"It is wilfully negligent of the Westminster government not to be taking any further action to reduce the spread of infection."

Covid case numbers 'unheard of' in similar European countries, say doctors

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07:00 AM

Edward Argar: Government will not review measures yet

Asked about last week's comments by Sir Patrick Vallance, who said action should be taken "at a time when it doesn't look particularly worrying", Edward Argar agreed the Government had to "look ahead."

"As you know you have a lead time of two weeks between infections and hospitalisations, and a further two weeks, sadly, between hospitalisations and deaths," the health minister said.

"He's saying always look to the future. I don't think we're at that point and I don't think we'll review it yet."

Mr Argar compared the current rates of hospitalisations and deaths to the "significantly more" fatalities when Covid cases were at the same level before the rollout of the vaccine programme.

The current spike in infections is being driven largely among 10-to-14-year-olds, he said.

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06:51 AM

Not yet time for Plan B despite 'huge' NHS pressures, says minister

Britain faces a challenging winter with coronavirus but it is “not yet” time for the Government’s Plan B, a health minister has said.

Edward Argar said that while there is “huge pressure” on the NHS, the situation in the health service does not warrant further action at this point.

“It depends on a whole range of factors,” he told Sky News. “The reason I say ‘not yet’ is because we are seeing pressure in hospitals, we have a challenging winter coming.”

Asked if more restrictions would be introduced soon, Mr Argar said: “We are seeing pressure in the system but we’re not seeing unsustainable pressure. The NHS is coping with a difficult situation but there’s a lot of factors we need to look at.

"There's a whole range of factors we'll take into consideration but I don't think we're at that point."

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06:49 AM

Good morning

It is "not yet" the time for the Government to introduce new restrictions, a minister has insisted, as medical leaders call for the return of social distancing measures.

Here is the front page of your Daily Telegraph today: