Keir Starmer has urged the prime minister to impose a two- to three-week national “circuit breaker” lockdown across England to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed, in a dramatic escalation of his criticism of the government’s approach. Matt Hancock criticised lockdown sceptics in his own Conservative party as rebel MPs prepared to vote against new virus control measures for England in protest at the 10pm curfew. Ministers won a vote on the 10pm compulsory pub closing time, but dozens of MPs voted against. The result has just been announced, and the regulations were passed by 299 votes to 82. Labour were abstaining and, with the government at no risk of losing, many Conservatives were using the vote to register their disapproval, A full breakdown of the vote, showing the exact number of Tory rebels, will be available later. Chris Green, the Conservative MP for Bolton West, has resigned as a parliamentary private secretary because he is opposed to the government’s coronavirus restrictions. In a letter to the PM he says restrictions in Bolton have driven many businesses “to the brink of collapse” and that he now thinks “the attempted cure is worse than the disease”.
The number of people who have died in the UK as a result of Covid-19 has gone up by 143 in one day, the highest increase in four months. The number of people being made redundant in the UK has risen at the fastest rate since records began as the economic fallout from Covid-19 and the scaling back of the government’s furlough scheme drives up unemployment. More than 2 million people in England on the government’s shielding list, considered vulnerable to Covid because of their health, will be advised to take precautions and follow social distancing as cases surge, but most will not be told to stay home, the Department of Health and Social Care has said. Michel Barnier has mocked Boris Johnson for issuing a “third unilateral deadline” during a meeting with EU ministers, warning that the Brexit talks remain difficult with little prospect yet of the two sides entering a decisive “tunnel” negotiation. That’s all from me for tonight. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.