“It goes without saying that if those rules were broken, there will be disciplinary action for all those involved,” he warned, later adding that he was “sickened” and “furious” by the footage.
Opposition Leader Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister had lost his moral authority to lead.
“Her Majesty the Queen sat alone when she marked the passing of the man whom she had been married to for 73 years,” he said.
“Leadership, sacrifice—that is what gives leaders the moral authority to lead.
“Does the Prime Minister think that he has the moral authority to lead and to ask the British people to stick to the rules?”
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A weeping Allegra Stratton told reporters that she would regret her “remarks for the rest of her days”.
“My remarks seemed to make light of the rules, rules that people were doing everything to obey, that was never my intention,” she said.
“I will regret those remarks for the rest of my days and I offer my profound apologies to all of you at home for them.
“To all of you who lost loved ones, who endured intolerable loneliness and who struggled with your businesses, I am truly sorry and this afternoon I am offering my resignation to the Prime Minister,” she said.
Speaking at a press conference to announce further COVID restrictions, Johnson praised Stratton as “outstanding”.
He announced that from Monday England’s workers would be ordered to resume working from home where they could, wear masks in cinemas and theatres as well as shops and on public transport and that vaccine passports would be introduced for large venues.
Johnson said the emergence of the Omicron variant was the cause for the new restrictions which were drawn up well before it was reported to the world’s health agencies by South Africa.
Johnson said that 568 cases of Omicron had been recorded across the UK but that “the true number is certain to be much higher”.
“What we’re doing today … is something we set out in September, this is not a deviation from the position that we thought we might find ourselves in as winter set in, we always reckoned that we’d see a spike in disease and infection,” he said.
“Actually, Delta has been remarkably stable. The problem has been this sudden emergence of Omicron and the real spike that it’s producing and, given the potential numbers that Omicron could produce, we just have to respond today in the way that we are.”
While workers will be ordered to work from home where they can, the Prime Minister said people could still go to their Christmas parties.
“We don’t want Nativity plays to be cancelled, we think it’s okay to keep going with Christmas parties,” he said.
Cases in Britain have remained steadily high with the seven-day average currently at around 47,000. More than 7000 people are in hospital with the virus but this has declined from a peak of around 9000 in October.
Before the vaccination rollout took effect more than 39,000 beds were occupied by people with COVID-19.
- England’s new rules:
- Masks required in theatres and cinemas from Friday. They are already required on public transport and in shops but not in hospitality.
- Working from home where people can from Monday.
- Proof of two COVID-19 vaccines or a negative lateral flow test to enter unseated indoor venues with a capacity of more than 500, outdoor venues with a capacity of more than 4000 and any venue with a capacity of more than 10,000.
Get a note direct from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.
“It goes without saying that if those rules were broken, there will be disciplinary action for all those involved,” he warned, later adding that he was “sickened” and “furious” by the footage.
Opposition Leader Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister had lost his moral authority to lead.
“Her Majesty the Queen sat alone when she marked the passing of the man whom she had been married to for 73 years,” he said.
“Leadership, sacrifice—that is what gives leaders the moral authority to lead.
“Does the Prime Minister think that he has the moral authority to lead and to ask the British people to stick to the rules?”
Loading
A weeping Allegra Stratton told reporters that she would regret her “remarks for the rest of her days”.
“My remarks seemed to make light of the rules, rules that people were doing everything to obey, that was never my intention,” she said.
“I will regret those remarks for the rest of my days and I offer my profound apologies to all of you at home for them.
“To all of you who lost loved ones, who endured intolerable loneliness and who struggled with your businesses, I am truly sorry and this afternoon I am offering my resignation to the Prime Minister,” she said.
Speaking at a press conference to announce further COVID restrictions, Johnson praised Stratton as “outstanding”.
He announced that from Monday England’s workers would be ordered to resume working from home where they could, wear masks in cinemas and theatres as well as shops and on public transport and that vaccine passports would be introduced for large venues.
Johnson said the emergence of the Omicron variant was the cause for the new restrictions which were drawn up well before it was reported to the world’s health agencies by South Africa.
Johnson said that 568 cases of Omicron had been recorded across the UK but that “the true number is certain to be much higher”.
“What we’re doing today … is something we set out in September, this is not a deviation from the position that we thought we might find ourselves in as winter set in, we always reckoned that we’d see a spike in disease and infection,” he said.
“Actually, Delta has been remarkably stable. The problem has been this sudden emergence of Omicron and the real spike that it’s producing and, given the potential numbers that Omicron could produce, we just have to respond today in the way that we are.”
While workers will be ordered to work from home where they can, the Prime Minister said people could still go to their Christmas parties.
“We don’t want Nativity plays to be cancelled, we think it’s okay to keep going with Christmas parties,” he said.
Cases in Britain have remained steadily high with the seven-day average currently at around 47,000. More than 7000 people are in hospital with the virus but this has declined from a peak of around 9000 in October.
Before the vaccination rollout took effect more than 39,000 beds were occupied by people with COVID-19.
- England’s new rules:
- Masks required in theatres and cinemas from Friday. They are already required on public transport and in shops but not in hospitality.
- Working from home where people can from Monday.
- Proof of two COVID-19 vaccines or a negative lateral flow test to enter unseated indoor venues with a capacity of more than 500, outdoor venues with a capacity of more than 4000 and any venue with a capacity of more than 10,000.
Get a note direct from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.