The government is continuing to resist rolling out further Covid-19 restrictions despite health officials reportedly putting the wheels in motion to do just that.
Labour have joined health groups this morning in calling for measures like compulsory mask-wearing in public, vaccine passports and working from home to be brought in.
Cases are rising sharply and topped 50,000 a day for the first time in three months this week, with the health secretary warning that rate could yet double.
After a week of similar comments from other ministers, chancellor Rishi Sunak reiterated Plan B won’t be introduced yet without ruling it out entirely.
He told the BBC: ‘At the moment the data does not suggest we should immediately be moving to Plan B.’
Mr Sunak added: ‘Well the prime minister actually just said that we’re looking at the data all the time, as you would expect us too.
‘We’re monitoring everything, but at the moment the data does not suggest that we should be immediately moving to Plan B, but of course we will keep an eye on that and the plans are ready.’
But behind the scenes, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is making preparations to enact the measures, according to The Guardian.
A leaked memo obtained by the paper reveals the public health body has been approaching local authorities to canvas opinion on the ‘immediate rollout of the winter plan’.
Council bosses were asked to respond within hours and were told ‘this is a tight turnaround’, suggesting health officials feel it may not be long until the cabinet moves.
A UKHSA spokesperson declined to comment on the leak but a government spokesperson told The Guardian ‘we are monitoring all the data closely’.
Senior Labour figures have avoided taking a concrete position on the introduction of Plan B this week but shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the party is in favour of more restrictions.
Asked directly whether Plan B should be introduced now by Andrew Marr, she said: ‘Yes, but let’s not let the government off the hook with Plan A either.’
Professor Adam Finn, who is on the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths are rising, and warned against complacency in what he said is a ‘worsening’ situation.
He told Sky the ‘wrong message’ is being sent out to the public and called for ‘some iind of Plan B’.
‘The scientist added: ‘And I worry in fact that the vaccine programme itself is suffering as a consequence of this suggestion that somehow the problem’s gone and we can all go back to normal again, because that will increasingly make people jump to the conclusion that if they’ve not been vaccinated there’s no real need to do it.
‘So I do think we need to see a very different kind of message coming from the Government now that there is a serious problem, and we all need to continue to contribute to reducing transmission, so that we can get through the winter and the NHS can stay afloat and absolutely we can avoid lockdowns, and the disasters that those bring.
‘We all want to avoid that, but we can’t avoid it if we all just go back to normal now.’
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