The Sunday Times - UK (2021-12-19)

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Demonstrators throw barriers and missiles at police officers in riot gear outside the entrance to Downing Street after an earlier confrontation elsewhere in central London

the mayor, said he was “incredibly concerned” by the city’s infection levels and that the step was “a statement of how serious things are”. Online, protesters were branded “incredibly selfish”. Dr Rachel Clarke, an NHS palliative care doctor, wrote: “The London Ambulance Service was 100 ambulances down because nearly 400 staff are off with Covid. But these charmers still chose to congregate in their unmasked thousands.” Dr Julia Grace Patterson tweeted: “If you want to avoid more restrictions, congregating at a time when a new variant is accelerating isn’t a fantastic plan.” The anti-lockdown protest was arranged by Together Declaration, a group claiming to “unite people from all walks of life to oppose the government’s draconian response to Covid”. Its website described the “event” as the “London stand for freedom” and said it was a show of “humanity against medical apartheid, communism, coercion, social credit systems, vax passports and mandates of any kind. “This is a march done by the people. We look forward to standing with you, as one, for freedom.” Further protests were arranged in Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow. Those present included Piers Corbyn, the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy and a leading antivaxer, who was seen breathing fire in front of a crowd.

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disease epidemiology at Edinburgh University and Sage modeller 11.35am Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers 3.05pm Santiago Lastra, chef-patron of KOL restaurant, on Mexican food and his Christmas cooking traditions

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Protests against vaccine certificates and Covid- restrictions turned violent yesterday as police struggled to control a large crowd gathered outside the entrance to Downing Street. The Metropolitan Police said several officers had sustained injuries after being subjected to “physical violence” during the clashes on Whitehall in Westminster. As of 6pm, no arrests had been made. Demonstrators, who were not wearing masks, were seen shoving officers, throwing projectiles including beer cans and metal railings, and screaming insults. At one point shortly after 5pm about 30 uniformed officers not in riot gear were forced to retreat after being circled by a large crowd of protesters in Parliament Square. The demonstrators, many of them antivaxers, shouted at them: “Nazi pricks”, “How do you sleep at night?” and “Shame on you”. Footage posted on social media showed barriers being broken down outside the gates to Downing Street. The Metropolitan Police said there had been a “significant police presence”. The protest came as a further 90,418 daily coronavirus cases were reported across the UK yesterday, following days of record highs. A major incident was declared in London to ease pressure on hospitals following a rise in the number of people being admitted with the virus. Sadiq Khan,

Shanti Das

Anti-vaccine protesters attack police outside Downing Street

Covid-

patients to

be treated

at home

patients were more likely to be admitted to hospital across all age groups. They were more than twice as likely to be admitted if aged 50 or over and more than four times as likely if 80 or older. Patients on the virtual wards are given oximeters that fit on their finger. Powis said the treatment would allow thousands of people to receive “the same care they would in hospital but from the comfort of their own home. This is better for patients, it is better for their families and it is better for the NHS, as it limits the spread of the virus.” The virtual wards will be used for patients who turn up at hospital, or call an ambulance, and are found to need care but not hospital treatment. Powis said the NHS planned to use 20, reservists — former doctors, nurses and non-clinical staff — to shore up vital services.

The reservists are trained staff who agree to work a number of days a year to help the NHS in emergencies or times of high demand. Eight pilot schemes have been run across England, with 17, reservists recruited and 3,000 more on the way. From next year all 42 NHS regions will have a reservists scheme. New Covid medicine delivery units have been activated to administer antiviral medication to patients in the community who test positive. Powis said the NHS could treat up to 1.3 million at-risk patients with the new drugs. The health service is also working on increasing critical care bed capacity by 10 per cent, roughly 450 beds, across England. Powis warned that there were limits on what the NHS could do and stressed that the surge in infections was affecting staffing levels. “We expect 20 per cent of NHS staff in London may be absent by Christmas Day,” he said. “We are likely to see the same effect outside London later.” He admitted that non- urgent operations could be cancelled. With modelling for the government showing that admissions could hit 3,000 a day in January, NHS trusts plan to move staff to frontline areas and cancel non-urgent surgery. Many hospital chiefs said they would continue to

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The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2020 was 67%

Lord Frost was not always given to sub- tlety during his time as Brexit minister. The man whose job was representing Britain in the corridors of Brussels practi- cally oozed red, white and blue, sporting the Union Jack on his lapel, donning the British flag on his lanyard, and, wherever possible, even in the stuffiest restaurants, reaching for one meal: fish and chips. Yet it was his claim to represent not just Britain, but the prime minister, that made him such a rarity within the cabinet. Despite serving someone whose pre- cise ideology is famously difficult to pin down, here was a politician who could legitimately claim to speak for Boris John- son — even if he had not actually spoken to the man himself on the topic at hand. A former Foreign Office diplomat, David Frost, 56, was aligned with John- son, 57, not only on Brexit, but the reason behind it: sovereignty, self-government and a national renewal that meant more to both men than a few GDP points or fishing access to the English Channel.

That is why the announcement of his res- ignation last night will have been more painful for Johnson than many of the others during his premiership. In stepping down, Frost has inevitably compounded the prime minister’s political difficulties after a fortnight that saw the biggest parliamentary rebellion of his time in office and by-election defeat in a seat held by the Tories for almost two centuries. Yet Frost’s departure is argua- bly more fundamental and symbolic than that: he is saying the Conservatives have lost their soul under Johnson. Frost, who had served as chief Brexit negotiator since June 2019, is understood to have cited three issues in stepping down: Johnson’s “Plan B” Covid- restrictions, tax rises and the government’s “net zero” agenda. It is no secret that the Tory backbench- ers feel queasy about such issues. Now Johnson cannot ignore them. The dissent is emanating from the heart of his government. A Derby boy who earned a free place at an independent school in Nottingham, Frost was educated at Oxford, where he read medieval European history and French. He shared more than an alma mater with the prime minister: like John- son during his Telegraph days, Frost was also sent to Brussels in his twenties, in his case as a Foreign Office diplomat working within “Ukrep”: the UK’s Representation to the EU. In this respect, Frost, who also saw

postings to New York and Nicosia, was unusual as a Brexiteer: he had learnt to dislike the EU from within, or at least close up, developing the view that Britain had voluntarily sacrificed its self-government on the altar of a project in which its citizens were, at best, uninterested. His distinguished overseas career cul- minated with his appointment as ambas- sador to Denmark, before he returned to Whitehall as director of strategy for the Foreign Office. In 2013, during David Cameron’s coali- tion government, he quit the public sec- tor to work as chief executive of the Scot- tish Whisky Association. The experience was akin to the For- eign Office in giving him a grounding in the bureaucracy of the EU, import and export rules, and the international trad-

ing system, skills which made him valua- ble to Johnson upon the latter’s appointment as foreign secretary in 2016. According to observers, Frost, the dif- fident former official, provided detail, complementing Johnson who could pro- vide the emotional case for Brexit. Johnson would return to the political wilderness in protest against Theresa May’s Chequers deal, which failed the sovereignty test for many Brexiteers. Par- ticularly harmful was the abiding role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ): for the likes of Frost and Johnson, a sine qua non was the disappearance of those three letters from the British statute book. Frost took on an advisory role at a think tank and made the case for Brexit in won- kish circles while Johnson became dis- ruptor-in-chief in the Commons. When Johnson returned to government as prime minister in 2019, one of his first appointments was Frost. In turn, Frost worked closely with Dominic Cummings in delivering the withdrawal agreement that gained parliament’s approval and royal assent in Janu- ary 2020, then negotiating the trade pact that preserved British access to Euro- pean markets. He also oversaw the North- ern Ireland protocol approved last Christ- mas. The last year of Frost’s time in government has been spent unpicking and renegotiating parts of these treaties. In leaving now, he has left unfinished business for his successor — and struck a devastating blow to Johnson.

He oozed red, white and blue

Lord Frost was the prime minister’s true ally on Brexit and was one of the few who could claim to speak on his behalf

He left

over

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carry out operations until the last minute. Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said trusts were trying to keep as much routine work going as possible but warned that nurses would have to look after more patients than usual because of absences. The University Hospitals Birmingham Trust has seen 40 per cent more Covid patients than the next nearest NHS trust, with 19,000 Covid admissions in the pandemic. Jonathan Brotherton, the chief operating officer at the trust, said his main concern was staffing levels. “I am worried — there’s very little time to prepare,” he said. England’s care regulator issued a stark warning over what it called the avoidable harm experienced by many patients stuck in ambulances and A&E departments. The latest data showed that more than 8,400 patients were waiting in an ambulance outside hospitals for longer than an hour in the week to December 12. Professor Ted Baker, the chief inspector of hospitals at England’s Care Quality Commission, said: “We described 2019 as the worst ever winter in the NHS, and that was before Covid hit. The situation now is even worse.”

All we want for Christmas is a booster jab, pages 6-

PM’s crisis

deepens

as Brexit

ally quits

restrictions and believes the booster vaccination programme should “buy time”. His view was backed by a majority of cabinet ministers. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, was one of the most vocal opponents to further restrictions, citing data that showed there had not been a huge rise in deaths in South Africa, where the Omicron variant emerged. One cabinet minister said: “We can’t have a situation where we lock down every winter and kill off the economy. We need to stop reading across what is happening in South Africa in terms of what is happening here. It is like comparing apples with pears.” Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is one of those opposed to more restrictions that could damage the economy. This weekend he is considering support including tax breaks for the

retail and hospitality sectors after pubs and restaurants said their Christmas bookings had collapsed. Across the UK, 90,418 new cases were reported yesterday, a slight fall on Friday’s figure but up 67 per cent in a week. It is thought that the number of infections is about twice as high, at closer to 200,000, and may be doubling every two days. Newly released minutes from the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said there could be a peak of 3, patients a day needing a hospital bed in England without action, and the longer the delay the more time the NHS would be under significant pressure. Figures show an average of 770 patients admitted per day, a rise of 8 per cent in a week. The Sage minutes added: “If the aim is to reduce the levels of infection in the population and prevent hospitalisations reaching these levels, more stringent measures would need to be implemented very soon.” Johnson’s hopes of relying on the booster programme to avoid new restrictions suffered a blow last night. A leaked NHS email said a national shortage of delivery vehicles could limit jabs being sent out next week. It came as Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, declared a

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major incident over the “huge surge” of Omicron cases in the capital, where there is a high number of unvaccinated people. The number of Covid-19 patients in London hospitals has gone up 29 per cent in a week. It is understood that any further restrictions could be introduced between Christmas and the new year. Boxing Day has been pencilled in for an announcement, with the measures potentially starting on December 27. One of the options being considered is understood to be a two-week circuit breaker, involving a return of the rule of six and no indoor mixing. Pubs and restaurants would only be allowed to serve customers outside. However, the plans have yet to reach ministerial level and have not been signed off. It is also understood that Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has not ruled out demanding fresh curbs. The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to recall a virtual parliament over Covid policy. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, has requested a meeting with the clerk of the House of Commons and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the House, to discuss whether MPs can return to parliament in the new year, perhaps remotely.

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ANALYSIS Ben Spencer on lockdown, page 7

MARCIN NOWAK/LNP; ANDY BARTON / ALAMY

Gabriel Pogrund Whitehall Editor and Peter Conradi Europe Editor

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, right, and Lord Frost last year

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The Sunday Times - UK (2021-12-19)

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