Covid: Keir Starmer confirms Labour will vote for ‘Plan B’ restrictions and urges public to get booster jabs

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed the party will vote for the introduction of Plan B restrictions amid fears of surging Covid-19 and Omicron cases.

He spoke to the nation in a pre-recorded televised address in which he said that the Labour party would be backing plans to introduce more restrictions in an effort to curb the rising infections.

He said: “We are a patriotic party and it is our patriotic duty to vote for these measures to ensure that they go through.”

Mr Starmer also said that his party backed the expansion of the vaccination booster programme which Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in an address on Sunday (5 December).

The deadline for boosting all eligible adults over the age of 18 was brought forward from the end of January 2022 until the end of this month.

At a glance: 5 key points

• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has backed plans to introduce new Plan B Covid restrictions in England, announcing that the party will vote in favour of the move
• Starmer has also thrown the backing of the Labour party behind the expanded boost vaccination programme, which had been announced by Boris Johnson in an address to the nation
• He did however criticise government ministers for not acting quicker to curb the rapidly rising Omicron cases in the UK
• Starmer called on the British public to get their booster jab during the televised address
• MPs are set to vote on the introduction of ‘Plan B’ restrictions being introduced on Tuesday 14 December, with some Tory MPs already stating that they would be rebelling against the vote

What did Keir Starmer say?

The Labour leader addressed the nation in a televised spot at 7pm this evening.

Starmer began the broadcast by urging the UK public to get their booster vaccinations, backing the Prime Minister’s move to expand the programme.

He said: “We may not be certain how dangerous it is but we do know that lives are at risk and again our NHS is at risk of being overwhelmed.

“If that happens more people will die.

“So we must do everything that we can to protect the NHS.”

Starmer described the deadline to boost all eligible adults by the end of December as “a big challenge” but was confident that the public would “do the right thing”.

He then announced that Labour will vote in favour of the introduction of Plan B restrictions during a vote in the House of Commons tomorrow (Tuesday 14 December).

The Plan B restrictions include a return to working from home, a re-introduction of face masks in more public venues and a fully vaccinated Covid Pass requirement for certain venues.

Starmer said: “At times like this, we must all put the national interest first and play by the rules.

“Of course I understand that sticking to the rules can be inconvenient but stick to the rules we must.

“It would be easy to let the festivities we’ve all been looking forward to, divert us from our national duty.

“Getting jabbed, wearing masks and working from home if we can really will help prevent infections and help prevent the NHS being overwhelmed.”

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