Brexit news live: Latest updates as Britons blocked from entry to EU nations

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has repeated his call for support measures to be extended in response to the announcement that Boris Johnson will address the nation this evening on the further steps the government will be taking to tackle the Covid crisis.

Mr Burnham previously said people being “excluded” from support measures was a growing problem and called on the government to divert money allocated for businesses which no longer require support towards individuals instead.

Father of the House Peter Bottomley has welcomed the recall of parliament on Wednesday to debate additional coronavirus measures.

The longest serving sitting MP said in reaction to the announcement: “This recall of Parliament is necessary and welcome. We want to hear that vaccinations will come early for frontline staff, including dental staff, teachers and police officers who have to deal with any member of the population.”

Boris Johnson is to make a televised statement at 8pm on the coronavirus situation, as he recalls the House of Commons to debate the crisis on Wednesday.

Follow updates here as they come in:

Scotland will return to lockdown from midnight with pressure building on Boris Johnson to implement new measures covering all of the UK.

Will these measures take us back to March? Tier 5? Or something nearer the November lockdown?

Our reporter Chiara Giordano considers what the new lockdown might look like:

Nicola Sturgeon has announced new lockdown rules meaning everyone in mainland Scotland must stay at home except for essential purposes, effective from midnight tonight until the end of January.

Ms Sturgeon said it was essential to act now to prevent infection rates soaring to the levels currently seen in London and the southeast.

“Our overriding duty now is to act quickly to save lives and protect the NHS,” she said. “Delay or prevarication in the face of this virus almost always makes things worse, not better, even if it stems from an understandable desire to wait for more data.”

Follow updates from the Scottish first minister’s announcement here:

London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the government to order a national lockdown “as a matter of urgency”, in an appearance on LBC just now.

Ports have been quieter than usual on the first weekday since post-Brexit rules came into effect but a representative for the freight industry said traffic is expected to build as the week goes on.

Rona Hunnisett, from Logistics UK, which represents the freight industry, said traffic levels were lower than usual at the moment due to a number of potential reasons including stockpiling by businesses in anticipation of delays, the closure of non-essential retail due to Covid-19 and a slow return to business after the Christmas break.

“We anticipate that traffic levels will build during the week and over next weekend,” Ms Hunnisett said.

Post-Brexit freight travel between Britain and Ireland is going “slow but steady”, a Dublin port official said.

Tom Talbot, head of customs operations for Dublin Port, said they are still seeing very low levels of trade because of the time of year.

“This has provided a good opportunity for ourselves, for trade, for business to build familiarity with the system, with new procedures,” Mr Talbot said.

“It allow firms to build familiarity with procedures that apply to trade and new trade with Great Britain and the arrangements that are in place across both Rosslare and in Dublin Port.

“To date there has been really good engagement with both trade and business and that will continue to ensure that smooth flow, and I am confident that will continue in the days and weeks ahead.”

So will Boris Johnson be forced to follow Nicola Sturgeon? The PM said on Monday morning that there is “no question” that tougher measures will now be needed in England to tackle rising Covid infections.

Johnson is reportedly convening the government’s key “Covid-O” committee on Monday to decide on any changes. A Downing Street source told The Mail ministers were considering putting even more areas of England into the toughest tier 4 for now.

And plans for a return of shielding for clinically vulnerable people in England are being drawn up by Mr Johnson’s government, The Daily Telegraph has reported.

But any action taken over the next few days may not be the last of the tightening see in January – with widespread speculation that the PM will have to consider a new “tier 5” category or another full-scale lockdown if cases and hospital admissions do not come down.

Nicola Sturgeon is reportedly all set to announce a new lockdown for Scotland – with a “legally enforceable stay at home rule” – according to BBC Scotland. Schools are expected to remain shut for the rest of month.