Throughout the pandemic the Labour party have always put public health before party politics and we will continue to do so. We will take each restriction on its individual merit.

There will be a vote in the Commons later to approve public health legislation, it’s not something we can amend or add things into or take things out of, it is as it is.

The Labour party called upon the Government to at least accept an alternative to ‘Covid passes’ and they have assured us that proof of a negative test will do the same job, so on that basis we aren’t going to oppose these measures.

Thanks to over a decade of Conservative mismanagement and underfunding of the NHS, we have record waiting lists and chronic staff shortages. We really must ensure we do all we can to protect the NHS and its staff, who got us through the pandemic last time. After a terrible almost two years where we have all sacrificed so much we want to see sensible, common-sense measures to stay on top of the Omicron variant. It’s vital we protect our NHS and we know how important it is that we can share Christmas with loved ones whilst continuing to protect each other.

Please continue to follow the guidance, please test before you go out to mingle and please wear masks. I would also urge everyone who hasn’t yet received their first, second or third dose (if they’re eligible) to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and protect their loved ones this Christmas. We want a balance to be struck between measures that help reduce the spread of the new variant at a time of year when it really matters to people to be able to see their family and friends.