As it happened: Boris Johnson warns of 'critical moment' battling coronavirus
30 September 2020, 09:22 | Updated: 30 September 2020, 21:06
WATCH LIVE: Coronavirus press conference (30 September 2020)
Boris Johnson said the country is at a "critical moment" in the surging second wave of coronavirus as he warned "the time to bear down on this virus is now".
The Prime Minister told a special Downing Street briefing this evening that Britons needed to show "forbearance, common sense and a willingness to make sacrifices for the safety of others" as he pleaded for people to follow the rules.
He insisted he would "not hesitate" to take new measures that would be "more costly" than the current ones, with England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty saying hospital admissions and intensive care cases are "heading the wrong way".
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It came as Health Secretary Matt Hancock struck a deal with Tory rebels to give MPs a vote "where possible" on future lockdown measures, a concession designed to quell a revolt of more than 80 backbenchers.
Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle scolded the PM earlier, accusing him of showing "contempt" to Parliament by bringing in emergency laws without scrutiny.
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