Politics latest news: New lockdown restrictions could get virus under control by Christmas, says minister

PM calls last orders for the North in new lockdowns Coronavirus latest news: Pubs, gyms and casinos braced for closure Northern leaders threaten legal action over lockdown plans Health and Safety inspectors turn their attentions to home workers EU countries preparing for no-deal Brexit and potential 'chaos' Subscribe to The Telegraph Boris Johnson's new three-tiered system of lockdown is intended to get the virus under control before Christmas, a Cabinet minister said today. The Prime Minister will set out the traffic lights system in the House of Commons this afternoon, after chairing a Cobra meeting this morning to finalise the details, which are expected to come into force from Wednesday afternoon. There are fears that some parts of the economy could be shut for as long as six months, although the measures will be reviewed on a rolling monthly basis. Speaking after a Cabinet briefing last night in which ministers signed off the measures being announced today Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, said: "If those measures are successful we hope to be able to take areas out of those high levels of restrictions. "The purpose of doing this is to ensure we get the virus under control so by the time that we get through to after Christmas we are in that position where it is under control," he added. "Indeed I hope it will be sooner than that." Although he declined to go into the details of what would be announced, Mr Dowden told Sky News: "It is not the plan to return to full national lockdown because it has been acknowledged by the World Health Organisation as a very blunt tool." He also confirmed MPs will vote on measures tomorrow, following the Prime Minister's address to the nation this afternoon.

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