England will begin a month-long lockdown on Thursday next week, with the country’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying acting now could allow families to spend Christmas together. Pubs, restaurants, gyms, non-essential shops and places of worship will close, but schools, colleges and universities can stay open. The announcement has sparked anger from some Tory MPs, and business leaders have warned of a bleak midwinter. Johnson is expected to deliver a statement in the Commons, the UK parliament, on Monday. MPs will vote on the latest restrictions on Wednesday, and Labour has indicated it will back the lockdown. The Prime Minister said he expects the lockdown to last until 2 December, after which Englands regional tiered system would be reintroduced. But Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told Sky News the lockdown could be extended beyond that deadline. He told the programme ministers would review progress with the aim of seeing the R rate - the number of people that one infected person will infect - fall below 1. Its our hope on the basis of the analysis that we have that we will have significantly reduced the reinfection rate, Gove said. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show there would be no effective exit on 2 December unless the government uses this time to fix test, trace and isolate. He has called for the lockdown to stay in place until the infection rate is below 1.
