No new COVID-19 restrictions in England before Christmas, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised in his video address on Tuesday. However, ministers "can't rule out" any further measures after 25 December, with Omicron swiftly spreading across the nation, added the PM.

Boris Johnson has been privately warned by senior Tories not to heed the advice of pro-lockdown Michael Gove on COVID-19 policy, reported the Daily Mail.

Furthermore, advisers who are allied to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities should be moved out of the heart of Government, current and former ministers are believed to have suggested.