Christmas not cancelled despite scientists’ pleas to Boris Johnson

Prime minister standing firm on plan to ease Covid-19 restrictions over the festive period

Boris Johnson returns to Downing Street following a Cabinet Meeting at the FCO.
(Image credit: Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Boris Johnson looks set to shrug off warnings from scientists that his “Christmas gift” of a let-up in Covid restrictions for the country may come at too high a price.

The growing opposition to the plan culminated yesterday with the publication of a joint editorial by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and Health Service Journal (HSJ) urging the prime minister to think again about easing rules in England over the festive season.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.