Only the key events are shown.
7m ago
The London mayor wants to decriminalise drug use.
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It was updated at 6.32am.
35m ago
Starmer hopes there won't be any more restrictions.
At 7.02am, the update was added.
42m ago
The Confederation chief thinks avoiding new restrictions is political symbolism for Johnson.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the National Health Service Confederation, told Times Radio this morning that he was worried that ministers were trying to downplay the seriousness of the Omicron crisis. He said something.
The prime minister has said that when Omicron has gone through us, we will be able to live with Covid, and that the health service will recover.
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We have to recognize that things are very difficult in the next few weeks, and I think that people in our service find it difficult.
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If you are working in health service, you see the reality and what politicians want to be driven by is the data and what is happening at the front line.
He said that Boris Johnson has become a political symbol because of resisting further restrictions. He was asked if he wanted to see more restrictions.
The government has to balance public health with the pressures on the health service. That is a very difficult decision.
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Judgement needs to be driven by the data and what is in the best interests of the country. It shouldn't be driven by a kind of political symbolism where the sooner we can be free, the better it is.
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The data has been all over the place for the last few days, so let's keep going.
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We are not really, I don't think, going to know until the end of this week what the patterns are showing us, because of bank holidays and Christmas. Let's see what the data says and act in the public interest.
Tony Blair used to have a policy unit headed by Taylor. He and Chris Hopson are two of the most powerful voices on Covid policy. Both of them try to avoid sounding partisan because they know that would undermine their credibility.
It was updated at 6.47am.
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It was updated at 6.09am.
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The chair of the JCVI doubts if there will be more booster jabs offered to everyone.
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, told the Daily Telegraph in an interview that further booster jabs should not be offered to everyone until there is more evidence to justify them. We can't give the planet a vaccine every four to six months. He said it was not sustainable or affordable.
Allie Hodgkins-Brown is a journalist.
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Tuesday's Daily TELEGRAPH: "We can't jab the whole planet every six months."
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January 3, 2022.
Pollard told Sky News that he is the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
It is not affordable, sustainable or deliverable to give fourth doses to everyone on the planet every six months. Less than 10% of people in low-income countries have had their first dose, so the idea of regular fourth doses is not sensible.
The vaccines minister told the Today programme this morning that the government would take advice from the JCVI but also that it would look at it seriously and decide whether it was appropriate for our population.
Pollard was against the idea of a third-jab booster programme for all adults in the summer of last year. Pollard thought that people in developing countries should be protected from diseases. The government's Covid strategy was critical to a universal booster programme.
In the past, ministers have been frustrated by the caution of the JCVI. The final decision on whether or not to give the vaccine to children between the ages of 12 and 15 was taken out of the hands of the JCVI.
It was updated at 6.16am.
2h ago
Blair deserves a knighthood according to Starmer.
At 6.00am, we updated.
2h ago
The health chief says that there will be a lot of Omicron cases.
Maya Wolfe-Robinson is a person.
The Covid-19 critical incident was declared last night by the trust, which operates three hospitals in north and southern Cumbria.
In an internal memo leaked to the Sunday Times, the trust's chief executive said that the move would lead to operations and appointments being canceled and staff being redeployed which would allow the hospitals to maintain safe services for patients.
At least six other trusts, including the United Lincolnshire hospitals trust, have issued alert over "internal critical incidents" in recent days.
Around 120 patients who were well enough to leave hospital but were unable to because of staff absences were warned in a note that staff absences had jumped from 7% to 10% in the last week. There are many times when we are operating on a one in, one out basis because seriously sick patients are waiting too long to be admitted.
The director of public health for Lancashire said the region was bracing for a wave of Omicron cases in older age groups. He told the Today programme that the government was using science as a side dish that we can pick and choose and that it was turning a blind eye to signals of distress from the frontline.
He went on.
Boosters on their own should not be the center of the strategy. We need to stop pretending we can boost our way out of this epidemic and start seriously thinking about keeping the infections low by engaging with communities and the public.
It was updated at 5.59am.
2h ago
The health minister won't say how many trusts have declared critical incidents.
It was updated at 5.42am.
2h ago
Labour's election offer to Britain is based on security, prosperity and respect.
Keir Starmer will give a major speech later that day, and he will say that security, prosperity and respect are the key to Labour's election offer to Britain. Labour said in an overnight press release that Starmer would set out Labour's ambition for a new Britain in which "you and your family get the security, prosperity and respect that they deserve".
Labour's news release explains the concepts in abstract terms.
Security.
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Everyone has the right to feel safe in their own community.
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We all need to know that the National Health Service is there for us when we need it.
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If we work hard, we should have job security as well.
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Prosperity.
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Everyone should have the chance to succeed.
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To make a good life for ourselves.
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They need the skills to prosper.
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You should respect.
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Security and prosperity are more obvious political virtues.
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It's every bit as important.
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Everyone has the right to live in places we care for and to have their lives and ambitions taken seriously to be valued for who they are and what they do.
According to a preview of the speech, Starmer will argue that Labour has to earn the trust of voters, and that he is proud of Britain. The starmer will say something.
I am thankful that I grew up in a country that had a national health service to help my mother when she needed it, that gave me the opportunity to go to university and become a lawyer and fight for what is right.
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The country has presented me with many opportunities. It is a great place to live. I don't think you stop being a patriot because you notice the flaws in your country.
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The reason we want to correct those flaws is because we are patriotic. I came into politics to make things happen.
At 5.12am EST, we have updated.
2h ago
Ferguson says up to 15% of Omicron cases are reinfections.
It was updated at 4.47am.
3h ago
Prof Neil Ferguson says that Omicron may have peaked in London.
Good morning. Wishing everyone a happy new year.
They might use the standard formula scientists apply to show how confident they are about the judgments they make in a report. It is not a habit that lobby correspondents have adopted.
Prof Neil Ferguson was interviewed on the Today programme this morning and he used medium confidence to describe his mood. Ferguson said he was cautiously optimistic that the Omicron epidemic may have peaked in London, where cases have been highest. He told the programme.
It is too early to say if the Omicron epidemic is going to go down, but I am cautiously optimistic that the infection rates in London in the key 18-50 age group may have peaked.
He said this when he was asked if the effect of Omicron was better or worse. He replied that he was.
I think the good news is that it is less severe. If you have never been exposed to Omicron, there is about a one third drop in the risk of being admitted to a hospital and dying. It is substantially less severe. That has aided us. The hospital would be seeing more infections if it weren't for it.
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We always expected vaccines to hold up against severe outcomes.
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The prime minister said it would be a difficult few weeks for the health service.
Ferguson sounded more confident today about Omicron being less severe than he was two weeks ago, when Imperial College published early research on this topic.
I will post more soon.
The agenda for the day is here.
Keir Starmer is giving a speech. Starmer will use it to launch his plan to maintain the Labour lead in the runup to the next election.
A lobby briefing is held by the prime minister.
I will be focusing on UK Covid developments today. Our global live blog is a great place to read Covid coverage.
It is difficult to read the comments below the line. I am more likely to find it if you include Andrew in your question. I try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line.
If you want to get my attention quickly, it is probably better to use a social media platform. I am on Andrew Sparrow.
You can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com
It was updated at 4.37am.
