London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Boris warns 'tis the season to be jolly careful' after stricter tiers unveiled

Boris warns 'tis the season to be jolly careful' after stricter tiers unveiled

Boris Johnson has warned the country that ’tis the season to be jolly careful’, as he urged Brits to be cautious about coronavirus over Christmas.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister had outlined his plan to take England out of lockdown on Wednesday, December 2 and replace it with a strengthened tier system. But he again promised a relaxation of restrictions over Christmas to allow families to get together.

Appearing at a coronavirus press conference from self-isolation in Downing Street, the PM said tonight: ‘Tis the season to be jolly, but it’s also the season to be jolly careful.’

Details of the relaxation of Christmas restrictions have not yet been finalised with the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Asked about an agreement of rules for Christmas across the nations of the UK, Mr Johnson said tonight: ‘We want people to be able to celebrate, but we don’t want to ruin it by overdoing it.

‘I think there’s a wide measure of agreement about that and I think you can probably expect some news about the way forward pretty soon.’

He continued: ‘I know that many of us want and need Christmas with our families, we feel this year we deserve it.

‘But this is not the moment to let the virus rip for the sake of Christmas parties.

”Tis the season to be jolly, but it is also the season to be jolly careful, especially with elderly relatives.’



Professor Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer, urged people to be responsible and said there was ‘risk’ attached to the loosening of restrictions over Christmas.

He said: ‘It is pretty obvious I think to anybody, that the Christmas holiday period – the loosenings around that – which I think everyone welcomes as an ability for families to come together and all the things that go with the winter period, we all know that that’s going to come at a risk.’

Professor Whitty said it is ‘absolutely essential people are really serious about this’, and warned: ‘We are very, very mindful of the fact that if we start breaking all the rules then we are putting other people at risk at a point of the year when these viruses transmit most easily and when the NHS is under greatest pressure.’

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson said there are no plans to close schools a week early to allow a safe period of time before children see elderly or vulnerable relatives at Christmas.

He said: ‘At the moment we’re not planning to do that.

‘One of the things we really attach, as a country, as a society, a huge importance to is keeping pupils, keeping kids in school and keeping young people in education wherever we can.

‘That’s been at the heart of what we’ve been trying to do over the last few months and it’s meant that we’ve had to put a lot of pressure, sadly, on other sectors in order to drive down transmission.’

Earlier, he told MPs: ‘I love Christmas. I love a big get-together.

‘I think the trouble is that the people of this country can see that there is a real risk that if we blow it at Christmas with a big blowout Christmas, then we’ll pay for it in the new year, and they want a cautious and balanced approach and that’s what we will deliver for the whole UK.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×