London, December 19
Brexit minister Lord David Frost has resigned as the man in charge of overseeing matters related to Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) amid opposition to “coercive” lockdown restrictions due to a surge of the Omicron variant of Covid.
Frost, who led the UK’s negotiations over the EU Withdrawal Agreement and has carried on talks over the Northern Ireland Protocol that governs arrangements between EU member-state Ireland and UK’s Northern Ireland, handed in his letter of resignation to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday.
The letter reveals that a plan for him to leave the post in the New Year was already agreed between them but that was brought forward after the ‘Mail on Sunday’ reported on his exit.
With reference to media reports of his opposition to the increasing lockdown curbs related to Covid, the letter adds: “We also need to learn to live with Covid and I know that is your instinct too. You took a brave decision in July, against considerable opposition, to open up the country again.
“Sadly it did not prove to be irreversible, as I wished, and believe you did too. I hope we can get back on track soon and not be tempted by the kind of coercive measures we have seen elsewhere.”
The resignation adds to a building tide against Johnson’s leadership at Downing Street, coming in the wake of nearly 100 parliamentarians rebelling against the government’s Covid Plan B in Parliament earlier this week — PTI
Germany tightens travel restrictions
Vienna: Germany is tightening travel restrictions for people coming from Britain in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron there. The country’s national disease control centre, the Robert Koch Institute, added Britain to its list of “virus variant areas” on Saturday. This means anyone traveling from the UK to Germany must enter a quarantine for 14 days. AP
2 Cambodians test +ve for Omicron
Phnom Penh: Two Cambodian nationals returning from the US and France have tested positive for the Omicron variant, bringing the total number of such cases in the southeast Asian nation to four, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Sunday. IANS
Measures in place
England: Covid passes for certain events, face masks in more places, people being urged to work from home if they can
Scotland: People have been asked to limit social contact to three households at a time in the run-up to Christmas
Wales: The authorities have ordered nightclubs to close post-Christmas from Dec 27
(The article is generated from feeds via CT, The Chenab Times staff didn’t write this news.)
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