The government is considering further Covid restrictions between Christmas and New Year, but plan B should be enough to allow people to spend the season with their loved ones, according to Dominic Raab.
At least 80 Conservative MPs are planning to vote against the restrictions, which include additional mask-wearing and Covid passes for large events.
When asked if the measures, which include guidance on working from home, were enough to stop the spread of the virus without further restrictions, Raab said: "These issues are always discussed but we have got plan B, that's what we think is required over the Christmas period."
The deputy prime minister and justice secretary told Times Radio that he thought Christmas Day was safe to spend with family. I think it is. I want to assure you. I think people can look forward to spending Christmas with their loved ones in a way that we couldn't last year.
The variant claimed its first life in the UK, according to Sajid Javid. The campaign to give more than 1 million people a day a booster vaccine got under way, causing the website to crash and causing people to queue in the street for up to five hours.
There were nine people in the hospital with the variant, which prompted the clarification that there were around 250. A source close to Raab said he had misheard the question. The correct figure is 10.
He acknowledged that there were problems after people waited for hours for vaccines. It takes a few days to make sure we get to a steady state. We will keep straining to make sure we reach that target.
The government plan to introduce passes to show vaccine or test status was defended by Raab who said it was "crass" to compare it to Nazi Germany. He told the Today programme that he didn't like the language.
The plan was illogical, even though he supported wearing masks, according to the former minister who now chairs the defence select committee. There are some practical implications as to how this will be enforced, he told Radio 4's Today programme.
If you have proof of having two jabs, which may have been completed six months ago, you can show up at the large venue with a recent negative lateral flow test.
Leadership is about taking people to where they don't know they need to go, but they must understand the plan, and this is illogical at the moment.
Covid health certificates were not a big step or a slippery slope and would not discriminate against those who were unvaccinated because they could also provide a negative test.
If you want to go into a crowded venue, most people would think that it's a good idea to do so, but also for those around them, that it's a reasonable thing to do. We should have a proper debate because I understand the concerns.
I think people should vote for these measures because they are a targeted approach and temporary, given what we don't know and the precautionary approach we need to take.
