New Year lockdown looms: Boris Johnson warns over reality of surging cases as ministers consider fresh squeeze on commuting and non-essential shops in England - despite claims cases will FALL over Xmas
Boris Johnson has refused to rule out another blanket lockdown in England pointing to reality of rising cases
Wales and Northern Ireland have already announced draconian new measures coming in after Christmas
Tier Three restrictions extended yesterday, plunging 38million people into new year under toughest curbs
Swathes of the Home Counties will join London in Tier 3 tomorrow along with Manchester and the North East
Experts fear decisions will not be enough to avert more draconian measures due to Covid surging in England
Rishi Sunak has announced that the Government s furlough scheme is being extended by another month
Chancellor already extended the wage subsidy scheme to the end of March but it will now run to end of April
Government said the move was necessary in order to provide businesses with certainty in coming months
But further extension of furlough prompted fresh fears that England could be heading for another lockdown
The Chancellor announced the Budget will take place on March 3 to lay out the next phase of UK response
On Thursday evening the Northern Ireland Executive agreed a six-week lockdown starting from Boxing Day