Labour's Jonathan Ashworth: We want Boris Johnson to ‘give certainty’ on post-Christmas Covid measures

Labour’s Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has told GB News his Party are calling for the Government to provide a map on future Covid measures.

Speaking on the Great British Breakfast the Labour MP said leaving the public in the dark about future restrictions “is not good enough”

“We’re just asking for a map. When we came into winter, before we knew this variant, we had the Plan A and Plan B map. The Government said if things get worse, we can move to Plan B. That principle of setting out options for the next stage so people know what the next stage looks is one that has been established by the Government. We’re just asking the Government to give people certainty about what the next stage could be.”

Mr Ashworth, formerly the Shadow Health Secretary, was critical about the lack of real information being provided by the Government about what will happen after Christmas.

“Look at the newspapers. There’s all kinds of briefings from government insiders and sources saying ‘we’ve saved Christmas but New Year’s Eve is going to be stuffed’ – that’s not good enough. That’s not fair to pubs and restaurants and theatres and so on.

“They need a bit of a sense of where they think things are going to be post-Christmas and that’s what we’re calling for.”

It comes after Boris Johnson said there was not enough evidence to justify tougher Covid measures before Christmas, but did not rule out restrictions afterwards.

The Prime Minister urged people to exercise caution and to continue to follow guidance.