National lockdown must be imposed within 24 hours, says Labour leader

The government must impose a national lockdown within 24 hours, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Sir Keir said the virus is “clearly out of control” and national restrictions have to be “the first step”.

He said: “It’s no good the prime minister hinting that further restrictions are coming into place in a week or two or three. That delay has been the source of so many problems.

“So I say bring in those restrictions now, national restrictions within the next 24 hours. That has to be the first step to controlling the virus.”

Sir Keir’s comments come as another 54,990 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK – the sixth day in a row that new daily cases have exceeded 50,000.

A further 454 people have died with coronavirus, government figures show.

It takes the total number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test in the UK to 75,024.