MPs to vote on THIRD national lockdown restrictions today as Covid-19 infections spiral

The Commons has been recalled from its Christmas recess for the second time, to debate and vote on the country-wide shutdown measures announced by the Prime Minister on Monday (January 4).

Boris Johnson will update MPs on the new measures – which include the closure of schools to most pupils and a return to the stay at home order – before a vote due in the evening.

The Prime Minister’s proposed measures are expected to pass with ease, with Labour set to support the motion after criticising the Government for not enforcing a lockdown sooner.

It comes after the World Health Organisation said it would not recommend withholding the second dose of the vaccine for up to 12 weeks as the UK is, instead suggesting the interval should be between three and four weeks.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will also outline a package of support for young people, after students in England were told this year’s GCSE and A-level exams would be scrapped.

The regulations enforcing a national lockdown in England came into effect at 00.01am today, as new figures suggested that one in 50 people had been infected with coronavirus last week.

Data from the Office for National Statistics suggested 1.1 million people in private households in England had Covid-19 between December 27 and January 2.

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said people must take the ‘stay at home’ rules seriously as he warned that the country faced a “really serious emergency”.

His comments came as the number of daily confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK topped 60,000 for the first time, while a further 830 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Tuesday.

The Prime Minister also said that more than 1.3 million people have been vaccinated against the virus across the UK so far, including 23% of all the over 80s in England.

Prof Whitty, speaking alongside Mr Johnson at a Downing Street press conference yesterday evening (January 5), said the vaccine timetable was “realistic but not easy”, and that the NHS would have to use “multiple channels” to get it out.

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