Matt Hancock has addressed the House of Commons to inform MPs which areas would be moving tiers.
London and large swathes of the home counties move from tier 2 to tier 3 with only two areas moving down tiers.
Bristol has moved from tier 3 to tier 2 after showing decreasing levels of infection rate and hospital admissions as well as Herefordshire joining Cornwall, Isle of Scilly and Isle of White in tier 1.
Matt Hancock said during his statement that “we must be vigilant and keep this virus under control,” backing up his aims to make sure that the nation doesn’t undo the hard work that has been done just weeks into the vaccination programme.
In his response, Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth questioned the Government’s approach to Christmas, alluding to rates potentially shooting up after the five days that people are allowed to mix households.
Mr Hancock responded by referring to Christmas as a “special time of year”, which should allow for families to gather without criminalisation. He put the responsibility firmly on the people of the UK to follow the rules and to ensure that they are doing the responsible thing by not pushing the rules further than they need to be.
