back on socialising. in the run up to and in the aftermath of christmas, i m asking, i am appealing to everyone to cut down as far as possible our contacts with people in other households. my key request to all of you today is, as far as you can, please minimise your indoor social interactions with other households at this time. large hogmanay celebrations were cancelled for a second year after she brought in new restrictions. wales too announced it would close nightclubs and reintroduce some restrictions from boxing day. as the festive season arrived in downing street, the new virus strain wasn t the only unwanted gift. the downing street flat refurbishment made a return. the electoral commission fined the conservative party nearly £18,000 for failing to properly declare the initial donation. events from last christmas were about to cause an almighty hangover too, with allegations of covid rule breaking parties and quizzes. the prime minister said
translation: even though i had my shoes shined in the morning, i let them do it to help them. have you ever seen at this bad in afghanistan, economically? translation: from morning to evening, most customers coming to my shop wanted to shine shoes. 150 people like that come here every day. the money pervez oz will help feed his family today. but food prices are rising. and the rent is overdue. are you happy you re your family? let s get more on the uk government s decision to not introduce more restrictions in england. it means night clubs and bars will remain open in england. michael kill is the chief executive of the uk s nighttime industry association.
the situation in england. but scotland, wales and northern ireland have all introduced further restrictions this week. people in wales and scotland are living with curbs on hospitality, including the closure of nightclubs. and all three nations have imposed restrictions on social mixing indoors. some of the scientists who advise the westminster government say ministers in england are acting on the optimistic end of the spectrum in terms of assessing the impact of the omicron spread. in the united states, health officials have halved the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic covid 19 from ten to five days, amid a surge in cases. france and germany have both re introduced tougher coronavirus restrictions. the french government has stopped just short of a stay at home order, but has called on employers to force their staff to work from home. demonstrations have taken place across eastern germany overnight against the new measures there.
parliament won t need to be recalled from its winter break. the ayes to the right, 369. 100 of borisjohnson s own mps rebelled earlier this month against the introduction of covid passes in england. if the prime minister had tried to push more measures through this week, he could have faced even fiercer resistance. as long as the nhs is not overwhelmed, then we stay, keep the uk open for business, keep our schools open because the collateral damage to wider society and the economy of any lockdown measures are very much underestimated. but ministers are still concerned about the effect of self isolation and sickness on nhs staffing levels so they ve given no guarantees that there won t be more restrictions injanuary. and labour is calling for the government to publish the data and advice it receives when making its decisions. england is now on a divergent path from scotland, wales and northern ireland. ..but it s not yet clear whether that will also lead to different results in tryi
wales and northern ireland have all imposed new restrictions. but in england, the emphasis for the time being is on caution, not compulsion. we think some 90% of cases now across england are this new omicron variant, so it shows you just how quickly it has spread. we have had news in recent days that it s milder. now, that in itself isn t good news enough that s good news, but we know that it spreads very rapidly, so we have to set that news against that. but whilst we should all absolutely remain cautious, we don t think there s any need for any further measures until the new year but, of course, we will keep that under review. many in the hospitality industry welcomed the fact that there ll be no new restrictions in england before new year the night time industries association said it was amazing news, but some businesses say that even the existing restrictions have hit them hard, and they re still looking to the government for more help. it feels that, if there isn t some inte