Omicron was first identified, said that
although the variant appeared to be
spreading faster, vaccines seemed to be
protecting against it and the disease it
caused was milder.
Boris Johnson is planning to decide
by the end of next week whether
further coronavirus restrictions are
needed over Christmas.
The decision to reintroduce pre-
departure tests, which will come into
effect tomorrow at 4am, was taken
after the UK Health Security Agency
(UKHSA) found that the window
between people being infected with the
Omicron variant and becoming
infectious was smaller than with theDelta variant. However, the decision to
bring back pre-travel tests has caused a
fresh split among cabinet ministers.
Dominic Raab, the deputy prime
minister, said on Times Radio yester-
day that the new rules would make only
a “marginal difference” in stopping the
spread of the new variant.
He acknowledged that the restric-
tions were “another burden” on the
public but insisted they were part of a
package of “incremental” restrictions
that would help to avoid a future
lockdown. Grant Shapps, the transport
secretary, is understood to have op-
posed the decision, having dismissed
Continued on page 2, col 3Monday December 6 2021 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73647Downing Street is to begin a fresh war
with judges over a plan to let ministers
throw out any legal rulings they do not
like.
Boris Johnson wants to further curtail
the power of the courts to overrule
decisions by ministers through the
process of judicial review, The Times
has learnt. The move comes after a
series of political clashes with judges
that started over Brexit.
The prime minister has ordered
Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, to
toughen plans to reform judges’ powers
to rule on the legality of ministerial
decisions. An option drawn up by Raab
and Suella Braverman, the attorney-
general, that is liked by No 10 is for MPs
to pass an annual “Interpretation Bill”
to strike out findings from judicial
reviews with which the government
does not agree.
Whitehall sources argue that the bills
would reinforce the constitutional
principle that parliament is sovereign
over the unelected judiciary. The move
has provoked uproar within the legal
establishment, and Johnson was ac-
cused of trying to use his Commons
majority to halt legitimate challenges.
One senior QC said that the prime
minister was secretly seeking “a more
compliant judiciary”.
The action on judicial review is the
latest assault the government is
planning on the legal framework. Raab
disclosed another yesterday when he
told Times Radio that he wanted to
overhaul the Human Rights Act to
“correct” the balance between freedom
of speech and privacy. He was speaking
Tom Newton Dunn Times Radio
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
JASON O’BRIEN/PALet battle commence Joe Root, England’s Test captain, with his Australian opposite, Pat Cummins, at the Gabba in Brisbane
yesterday, where the Ashes start on Wednesday. The tourists were boosted by Ben Stokes declaring himself fit. Pages 58-It’s too late to stop Omicron, says adviser
Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
Ben Clatworthy
Transport CorrespondentThe reintroduction of pre-travel Covid
tests is like “shutting the stable door
after the horse has bolted”, a govern-
ment scientific adviser has said.
Professor Mark Woolhouse said that
the rules had come “too late” because
the Omicron variant was “already
spreading pretty rapidly” in Britain.
His warning came after the number
of Omicron cases reported in the UK
rose by 50 per cent in the last 24 hours,
taking the total to 246.
Scientists in South Africa, where£2.20 £1.45 to subscribers
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INSIDE
TIMESPM plans to
let ministers
throw out
legal rulings
Johnson takes on judges after series of clashes
after The Mail on Sunday lost its appeal
in the privacy case brought by the
Duchess of Sussex over the publication
of a letter she had sent her father.
Pledging to prioritise free speech
over privacy, Raab said: “I think the
drift towards continental-style privacy
laws, innovated in the courtroom, not
by elected lawmakers in the House of
Commons, is something that we can
and should correct.”
Johnson’s allies say that he is unhap-
py with the Judicial Review and Courts
Bill, going through parliament. The
legislation stepped back from radical
reforms once threatened by No 10 and
focused instead on subtle remedies,
such as suspended judgments to give
ministers time to tackle problems.
It “doesn’t go far enough” for
Johnson, one ally said, adding that the
prime minister’s proposals had led him
to clash openly in cabinet with Robert
Buckland, who was sacked as justice
secretary in September. It was claimed
that this row was behind the surprise
dismissal of the popular Buckland.
Johnson’s wish to curtail judicial
review arises from two cases brought
by the anti-Brexit activist Gina Miller,
his allies say. In the first, in 2016,
judges ruled that Theresa May, then
prime minister, had been wrong to
trigger Article 50 to leave the EU
without a vote in parliament first. In the
second, in 2019, the Supreme Court
ruled that Johnson’s decision to
prorogue parliament for five weeks had
been unlawful.
Raab’s changes will come too late to
be included in the Judicial Review and
Courts Bill, which is already at report
stage in the Commons. Sources close to
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