It seems Rishi and Boris were right to cancel their Christmas parties – despite telling the rest of the country not to. A Covid wave prompted by the more transmissible Omicron has hit Westminster over the last couple of days, seemingly with the force of Storm Arwen. In the last day, the following have all declared they’ve tested positive:
At this rate there won’t be anyone left not self-isolating during tonight’s Covid passport vote…
The Guardian’s Aubrey Allegretti and the FT’s Jim Pickard have got the bug, with a few other sociable SW1 hacks telling Guido privately they’ve also tested positive. As the SNP’s Pete Grant speculates, “Several MPs have tested positive for covid in the last few days so there’s a very high probability that others are carrying the virus but have not yet shown symptoms or given a positive test.”
Last night Hoyle banned banquets and events on the Commons estate again, causing – among others – the cancellation of the 1922 Christmas party. It can only be mere hours until Keir gets pinged again…
*Russell has announced an LFT has since come back negative
