London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Boris lifts sex ban (sort of) as he lets single adult houses meet up

Boris lifts sex ban (sort of) as he lets single adult houses meet up

Boris Johnson will allow one-person households in England to form ‘support bubbles’ with one other household from this weekend.
That means partners who live alone in separate homes can now meet up without social distancing – partially lifting the ‘sex ban’. Single parents with children under 18 are included but the change does not appear to apply to adults who live apart and in households of more than one person. The move also only applies in England, where around 11 million people live alone or as single parents.

The PM explained: ‘There are still too many people, particularly those who live by themselves who are lonely and struggling with being unable to see friends and family. From this weekend we will allow single adult households – that’s adults living alone or single parents with children under 18 – to form a support bubble with one other household. All those inner support bubbles will be able to act as though they are the same household, meaning they can stay inside each others homes and do not need to stay 2 metres apart.

The changes, which come into force from midnight on Saturday, will not apply to those who are ‘shielding’ and are designed to combat loneliness, Mr Johnson explained at the coronavirus briefing this evening. They could also allow grandparents who live alone to see grandchildren and other family members.

There had been widespread shock at the apparent sex ban, brought in on June 1, stopping people from socialising indoors – but now some adults will be able to stay overnight at another person’s home. That means it will no longer be illegal for them to have sex in their own home with someone they do not live.

It brings the Government’s stance closer to that of Holland, where single people have been advised to find ‘lockdown sex buddies’. But it could cause difficulties in shared homes, if housemates are forced to choose only one person to bring into their household ‘bubble’.

The PM, stressing loneliness and the need to see family members, clarified: ‘Support bubbles must be exclusive, meaning you can’t switch the household you are in a bubble with or connect with multiple.’

It is unclear what that means for adults living in shared houses with friends.

Mr Johnson added that the country was now meeting the ‘five tests’ the Government had previously said needed to be passed to ease the lockdown.

He continued: ‘If any member develops symptoms, all members will need to follow normal advice on household isolation. We are making this change to support those who are particularly lonely as a result of lockdown. It’s a targeted intervention to limit the most harmful effects of the current restrictions.’

‘It is emphatically not designed for people who don’t qualify to start meeting inside other peoples homes because that remains against the law.

‘Unfortunately we cannot advise anyone who is shielding to form a support bubble at this stage given their particular vulnerability to the virus.

‘I know how hard it is for those of you who are shielding, we will say more next week for the arrangements that will be in place for you.’

The PM said support bubble were ‘plainly designed’ for those who hadn’t been able to see the rest of their family for a very long time.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty added: ‘The idea of the bubbles is for families that have a single adult in the household, so if this applied to families with a single adult in the household that would be covered by what the Prime Minister just talked about.

‘For other people it’s largely going to have to be meeting outside and socially distanced because the risk of transmission is much lower.

‘Bubbling is about single households or lone parents, then there’s meeting outside for other people.’
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×