Boris johnson
British PM tells public to stay home as deaths soar
The prime minister was expected to give a press conference later Friday after the latest government figures showed a 50% rise in weekly deaths, taking the total...
Hastily recalled lawmakers were to vote retroactively on the lockdown measures, which came into effect in England overnight, as the worsening situation became clearer.
The lockdown would take effect early Wednesday and remain in place until mid-February.
Britain recorded 57,725 new cases on Saturday, its highest total of the entire pandemic.
New Year's Day newspapers reflected the historic but still deeply divisive change, which will have repercussions for generations to come.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that millions must cancel Christmas plans and stay home.
"I'm afraid we're still very far apart on some key things, but where there's life there's hope," Johnson told reporters, after agreeing with EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to push on with negotiations.
The EU's Michel Barnier and Britain's David Frost held talks late on Saturday and early on Sunday and will continue to negotiate in Brussels.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen have given their negotiators until Sunday before a decision is made on whether to keep talking or give up.
Johnson's dash back to the city where once he made his name as an EU-bashing newspaper reporter marks the last chance of a breakthrough before Britain leaves the EU single market.
"Time is obviously now in very short supply. We are in the final stages. We are prepared to negotiate for as long as we have time available, if we think an agreement is still possible," a spokesperson told reporters.
Pressure is growing on both sides to strike a deal with just weeks left until the 11-month Brexit transition period ends on 31 December.
"The breakthroughs in treatment, in testing vaccines mean that the scientific cavalry is now in sight," he told parliament.
A probe by state auditors found the UK government has failed to account clearly for all of the £18 billion ($24 billion, 20 billion euros) it has spent on supplies and services linked to the pandemic.
"He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic," the Downing Street spokesman added.
Johnson, whose country takes over the rotating presidency of the G7 next year, invited Biden to attend the UN's COP26 climate change summit.
Last weekend, Johnson announced a lockdown across England after dire warnings that hospitals would be overwhelmed with cases in the coming months if nothing was done.
After persisting for weeks with local and regional restrictions, Johnson announced at the weekend that a new nationwide lockdown would come into force from Thursday and end on December 2.
Scientific models show that, without action now, the number of deaths over the winter months could double those in the first wave earlier this year, and hospitals would soon be overwhelmed, Johnson told the House of Commons.