Allies of Boris Johnson have been concerned by claims that one of Mr Cummings's closest colleagues, adviser Cleo Watson, is in line for a senior role at the Treasury.

Covid restrictions in England including travel bans, testing and facemasks will be necessary to fight the new Omicron variant, the Prime Minister announced at a Downing Street briefing.

Gales, snow and freezing temperatures wreaked havoc across the country, as forecasters warned the mercury was set to plunge below zero.

The ban by civil servants to block 'Christmas' from publicity efforts to avert a winter Covid crisis has been branded as 'ridiculous' by Muslim Tory MP Saqib Bhatti.

Asya, 35, of south London, contracted Covid in December and was forced to deliver her son, Daniel, dangerously early at 27-and-a-half weeks.

The Kurdish family, who lived in a squalid camp in Dunkirk before attempting the crossing, are thought to be among at least 27 migrants who died when their dinghy capsized in freezing waters.

Reclaim The Night protestors held up placards and chanted slogans as they marched from near Marble Arch to Piccadilly Circus on Saturday night.

The Tottenham-born singer (pictured) secured the mega-deal after years of being famed for turning down lucrative offers from brands for her endorsements.

The remaining stars will individually return to quarantine to ensure they remain covid secure and will only return once the whole production is safely re-established.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, 78, was spotted in a pair of futuristic-looking glasses on his hotel balcony in Miami, Florida last week. Before cuddling up to his partner, 34.

Yesterday's announcement that two people in the UK have been found to be infected with the new Omicron Covid variant is being greeted with relative calm by Sajid Javid and his officials.

Sources close to Maxwell (pictured) have said she is 'absolutely prepared' to take the stand in her child sex and trafficking case as she battles to avoid a lengthy prison term if found guilty.

Ms Patel, 49, was due to meet President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the crisis, but the French government cancelled the meeting in a fit of pique after receiving an open letter from Boris Johnson.

Over 100 firefighters are tackling a huge blaze that broke out at an industrial estate in Nottingham this evening.

Ava White had been in the city with friends on Thursday following a Christmas lights switch-on when she suffered 'catastrophic injuries' in an assault at 8.39pm, Merseyside Police said.

Ben Osborn, who runs the British arm of the US drug giant and is head of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said he has had 'blunt' conversations with those opposed to vaccines.

Pushing her ten-week-old daughter Sienna in a trendy £1,000 Fox 3 Bugaboo pram, Princess Beatrice, 33, appeared relaxed alongside husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at the fair in Hyde Park.

William was reportedly incensed by claims in the BBC documentary The Princes and The Press that he briefed against Prince Harry regarding the latter's mental health difficulties.

As it emerged that one of the two people infected with the Omicron variant in the UK was double-jabbed, scientists were studying swabs to determine how the 'super mutant' strain reacts to vaccines

Mother of two Sarah joined Brighton-based Survivors' Network seeking support over the rape that had cast a traumatic shadow over her life. But she said the sessions were violated by a trans woman.

JULIE BINDEL: Imagine you are a woman who has suffered childhood sexual abuse and that you are subsequently raped in adulthood. You find group counselling sessions exclusively for women.

SIR IAIN DUNCAN SMITH: Emmanuel Macron , like an angry five-year-old who has been caught out, threw a tantrum over the fact the PM had the temerity to make the letter public.

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: The response of the Government to the new Covid variant from southern Africa should be targeted, proportionate and, above all, calm.

PETER HITCHENS: Sweden did not in fact follow the closedown route. It took many measures, but it did not engage in mass forced quarantine of healthy people.

Last week we were greeted by the grim news of Omicron - a significant new variant of Covid-19, the first in several weeks. The Government rightly acted fast to take sensible precautions.

When Lynn Thompson, 69, goes on holidays to the South Coast or Spain with her husband of 47 years, Jeff, she insists on two bathrooms and can only use the facilities when he is fast asleep.

A senior political source claims Amol Rajan agreed to support the Tories if David Cameron agreed to attend the birthday party of his proprietor, the Russian businessman Evgeny Lebedev.

Munira Subasic lost her husband and teenage son in the 1995 genocide of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica, when more than 8,300 people were massacred in a few days of horror.

It was a clear, sunny, blue-sky day the day I learned I had breast cancer. The brutally unexpected so often seems to happen on such days.

Prince Andrew worked secretly behind the scenes to help controversial multi-millionaire David Rowland open a bank for the super-rich in Monaco.

Department of Health officials posted nearly 40,000 daily infections - down 3.36% from 40,941 last Saturday - after Sajid Javid announced two cases of the new variant were detected.

Between November 11 - when the Omicron Covid variant was first detected - and November 26, there were 48 direct flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg to London Heathrow Airport.

Boris Johnson refused to rule out another lockdown over the festive period as he fielded questions from journalists following the discovery of the new super-mutant Omicron variant in Britain.

The Department for Education has emailed headteachers across the UK, telling them to conduct asymptomatic testing in early 2022 to reduce transmission 'after a period of social mixing'.

Around 600 passengers arrived on two planes in Schipol Airport, near Amsterdam, from Johannesburg - the epicentre for the new strain - hours after travel bans were put in place.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference today, the Prime Minister said it is not known how the vaccines will fare against the new super-mutant strain.

Britons have shared their fears of another Christmas under Covid lockdown after Boris Johnson claimed he was 'absolutely confident' that this year's be 'considerably better' than the last.

The WHO's decision to name the variant from southern Africa 'Omicron' has sparked speculation that the WHO deliberately skipped over 'Xi' to avoid angering the President of China, Xi Jinping.

The entertainer, 40, reportedly had a backstage meltdown and threatened to sack her team in a shock row about misogyny amid her appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show.

The famed American composer and lyricist passed away 'suddenly' at his Roxbury, Conn. home, according to F. Richard Pappas, The New York Times reported.

The 'monster' strain, named Omicron and designated a 'variant of concern' by the World Health Organisation, has reached the UK and Belgium after being discovered in South Africa.

UK diplomats issued a plea to Putin to hold back 90,000 troops at Ukraine's border. Meanwhile, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky revealed a plot to oust him.

Crown Prosecution Service figures show only 61 migrants have been charged and 51 convicted since December 2019 for illegally entering the country and breaching the 1971 Immigration Act.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data estimated around 862,300 people caught the virus on any given day in the week up to November 20, up 4.5 per cent on the 824,900 the week before.

Hundreds of Iraqi migrants have begun flying home from Belarus after failing to cross the Polish border into the EU, with Warsaw claiming victory for its 'decisive action' defending Europe's frontier.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY IAN LADYMAN: Usually at this time of year Louise disappears. Often to New York where her and Gary's two sons Eddie and Tommy are studying. But always somewhere.

The six-year-old from Solihull, West Midlands was killed by the couple after suffering abuse 'designed to terrorise', it is said.

A 12-year-old girl has died following an assault in Liverpool city centre - with four schoolboys as young as 13 arrested on suspicion of murder.

South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) and Lesotho were added to the UK's red travel list on Thursday night over growing fears about the variant.

The Prime Minister will unveil a major law and order package as part of efforts to get back to bread-and-butter politics after weeks of turmoil triggered by U-turns and rows about sleaze.

Test results on the formula, developed by the team behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, are due in the next few days and it could be ready for use within a matter of weeks.

Restrictions will apply to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said.

The former cricket star and Top Gear presenter, 43, recently rewatched some of the old 007 films, but has told that now some of the men are the kind 'you'd warn your daughter about'.

At Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Centre, the fallen British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, waits for her 'Trial of the Decade' to start on Monday.

European leaders tightened Covid lockdowns today, with the Belgian prime minister warning case totals are 'worse than the worst-case scenario' as the winter wave goes from bad to worse.

In a pre-recorded chat the broadcaster, 65, told the Geordie duo that 'if it wasn't for Covid, he'd still be in the game' and that ITV were 'adamant' he was sent to hospital to be checked over.

Manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines used in the US say they are taking quick action after recent revelations of the South African 'Nu' variant, and its high infectiousness and ability to evade vaccines.

RICHARD EDEN: Gordon Ramsay painstakingly picked celebrated young chef Matt Worswick, 28 to run the kitchen at The Savoy Grill. But Worswick has suddenly been fired.

You can save 25 per cent off in the Eye of Horus Black Friday sale with savings on the brands bestselling products like the Bio Mascara and Liquid Define, all under £20.

Richard Dexter tricked Amrita Sebastian out of £141,000 by posing as a successful businessman and telling her he was on the verge of a 'big windfall', a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

Emmanuel Macron delivered a furious rant after Boris Johnson sent him a letter demanding more action on Channel migrants.

Proposals for the farm in near Sherborne in Dorset were slammed by planning experts, conservationists, architects and hundreds of residents who said they will 'decimate' 189 acres of land.

Despite the programme's complex six tier security system, comprising of bulletproof detection robots, an unarmed trespasser was able to find their way into the grounds of Gwrych Castle.

ANDREW NEIL: The Big Apple is on the slide once more. The pandemic has scarred the city much more than London. Signs of decay and dereliction are everywhere, even in the affluent parts.

Georgia Frost was crowned winner of the coveted Alan Bates Award. She appeared in a picture taken outside the Edinburgh home of Harry Potter author JK Rowling this week.

Grand Tour presenter Jeremy Clarkson is sponsoring Chadlington Football Club, a local side, after Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over Wrexham FC in Wales.

Scientists believe that its extensive mutations mean it must have originated in a severely immunocompromised patient, possibly an undiagnosed person with AIDS.

BEL MOONEY: You can have all the equality legislation in the world, but unless she can control her own fertility, a woman can't ever feel free.

PLATELL'S PEOPLE: Eight months ago, I was introduced to the BBC's rising star Amol Rajan who asked me to be interviewed for a TV documentary he was making.

Mr Justice Fancourt issued a warrant for the arrest of prominent civil liberties solicitor Soophia Khan (left), 41, after finding her in contempt of court for failing to show up for her own case.

Baran Nouri Hamadami, from northern Iraq, was among the 27 who drowned in the disaster off the coast of Calais earlier this week, the Telegraph reports.

Princess Diana never lost her love of ballet. Just how much it meant to her is revealed in a unique collection of photographs of Diana's visits - both public and private - to the London City Ballet.

Activists arrived in sites across Britain in the early hours of Friday to set up bamboo structures and 'lock-ons', and held banners urging Amazon to cut its emissions.

Cody James Ackland, 24, who lives in central Plymouth with his mother and plays in popular local band Rakuda, is accused of abducting the 18-year-old as she waited at a bus stop.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis lashed South Africa's Covid experts for sounding the alarm so early, saying that the country's tourism industry had been dealt a 'crushing blow.'

And, at first glance, there is certainly good reason to pay attention to B.1.1.529. After all, it has 50 mutations compared to the strain that first emerged in Wuhan two years ago, making it very different.

Researchers from City University of New York tracked more than 34,000 Americans aged over 40 for several decades and matched eating times with death rates.

Since the closures were introduced in the Stockport suburb of Heaton Chapel in September on a trial basis, homeowners have expressed fears about the disruption caused to the emergency services.

Trollies with handlebars placed parallel to each other (pictured) - a little like a wheelbarrow - make us use our biceps which are used to pull things towards us, and so put more in the trolley.

The Omicron Covid-19 variant has more than 30 mutations - the most ever recorded in a strain and twice as many as Delta. A case was reported in Belgium today, the first infection in Europe.

Peter Lyons (pictured) was acquitted after James Raeburn had accused him of sailing recklessly to endanger him. Lyon was, however, fined for fishing without a licence since June 2020.

Some headteachers have this week banned parents from attending events or have cancelled fayres and nativity plays entirely due to rising Covid cases. Pictured: Mr Shapps.

Black Lives Matter sparked furious backlash on social media after a Thanksgiving tweet that claimed that Americans were eating their holiday meals on 'stolen land.'

The world shut itself off from Southern Africa today in response to a super mutant variant that was unheard of just days ago. B.1.1.529 was first picked up in Hong Kong on Monday.

Despite a quiet start to Black Friday sales at high street hotspots in London, Tyneside and Manchester, industry insiders are predicting 2021 could be the UK's most lucrative Black Friday on record.

Amazon Black Friday 2021 continues. From Shark vacuum cleaners to Apple AirPods, here are the 35 best deals you don't want to miss.

Emma Smart, 44, is entering her tenth day of hunger strike at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, where she was sentenced to four months for protesting on the M25.

Kay Shemirani, also known as Kate Shemirani, 56, is said to have led demonstrations in Trafalgar Square on August 29 and September 19 last year, and Whitehall on September 5.

Campaigners claim more than 3million Govia Thameslink Railway passengers have 'double paid' for parts of their travel and are taking their case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Haider Malik, 24, decided to head to Canary Wharf in east London on the morning of November 2 hoping to find a position in banking and finance having graduated with a first class degree.

Department of Health figures showed cases rose 13 per cent in a week, rising from the 44,242 reported last Friday. It marked the first time they had topped the milestone since October 21.

The Government should have waited to consult on the future of Channel 4 until they had set out a vision for public service broadcasting, a report has said.

Three men from Bradford have been charged with death by dangerous driving after prep school teacher Asad Rashid, 34, was killed during a 'road race' down a dual carriageway.

The proposal was derided as the 'stupidest bridge in history' while Tory MPs joked the trains would be 'pulled by unicorns. A review has concluded the 'benefits could not possibly outweigh the costs'.

Ross McCullam will now face trial next year accused of the murder of Megan Newborough, who was discovered near Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire, in the early hours of Sunday, August 8.

Rachel Riley shut down Anne Robinson after the host made a swipe at a Countdown contestant, amid reports of a bitter 'feud' between the stars.

The 87-year-old jokingly praised the British presenter for his bravery in coming out as gay - despite it actually being Phillip who announced his sexuality in February 2020.

Damien Bendall, 31, is now alleged to have raped and murdered 11-year-old Lacey Bennett, as well as being accused of killing three others at a house in Killamarsh, Derbyshire.

This year's I'm A Celebrity has been thrown into chaos behind the scenes after three of this year's contestants - Dame Arlene Phillips, Naughty Boy and Frankie Bridge - sought medical treatment.

Keith Brown kicked off the SNP annual conference this afternoon by claiming a message of 'optimism and ambition' for the future can lead the country to independence.

Squadron Leader Trevor 'Wimpy' Wade was one of 'The Few' who destroyed up to 19 German planes during the Second World War.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are set to begin a series of 24-hour walkouts today over changes to staff rotas to restart the Night Tube.

CCTV shows the scooter flying over Paul Hepworth's 8ft wall at the family home in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, before crashing into garden furniture and landing in the courtyard.

The UK retailer's website has an advert telling customer that need emergency contraception they can save up to £28.25 by entering a code a check out.

Eric Zemmour, 63, took legal action to try and prevent Closer from publishing details of his secret affair with Sarah Knafo, 28.

Stacey Solomon and her team visited stay-at-home mother Cherelle and courier Tony, who live in a two-up, two-down rental property in Manchester with their three daughters and a son, all under four.

Art curator Flora, 25, tied the knot with the Swedish financier Timothy Vesterberg, 27, in September, with Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex attending.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as  Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday today.

Police have grown 'increasingly concerned' by the disappearance of 18-year-old Caitlin Black, who lives in Winsford, Cheshire, last seen boarding a train in Liverpool on 17 November.

The Duchess of Cambridge relies on a uniform of tonal jumpers with matching jackets and dark trousers to pull together a 'polished' look with ease, stylists have told FEMAIL.

DrinkWell has conducted independent laboratory research analysing the nutritional content of 24 of the most popular red, white and rose supermarket wines per glass and bottle.

Cordelia Stemp told friends she felt something was 'seriously wrong with her' when she left Hampshire Boulevard nightclub in Portsmouth feeling unwell.

BT Sport have warned Rangers they won't allow the club to pick and choose their pundits after Chris Sutton was again denied entry to Ibrox - for the second time in a matter of months.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) say there have been a 'number of delays' due to Stockport Council's 'Active Neighbourhood' scheme.

The highly-rated Oral-B Smart 6 Electric Toothbrush with Smart Pressure Sensor is now on sale for a massive £160 off the RRP - that's a huge saving of 73 per cent off.

Luke Deeley, 25, from Pontypridd, had 'no known links' to retired IT consultant June Fox-Roberts, 65, according to police.

Thames Valley Police officer PC Perry Greenhalf, based in Newbury, was found guilty of gross misconduct after himself resigning, following homophobic comments and racial slurs he made.

Evelyn Cardwell was at her farm in Aldborough, East Riding of Yorkshire, when the airman's Junkers 88 was shot out of the sky by the crew of a Hurricane.

Danielle Thornton, 33, from Coventry, is fundraising for liposuction after being diagnosed with lipoedema after visiting doctors constantly for 20 years to find out why she couldn't slim her legs.

Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, said mandarins do not have the 'skills and experience' needed to address the country's biggest challenges.

Surrey Police launched an investigation into allegations of bullying at Deepcut barracks in Surrey following the deaths of four young recruits between 1995 and 2002.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he has been 'heavily lobbied' not to change the regulations amid a row over a ban handed to Labour backbencher Stella Creasy this week.

In its latest campaign, New York-based Promobot is seeking someone with a 'kind and friendly' face, to be used on a humanoid robot-assistant.

DAN WOOTTON: At least everyone now says the migrant crisis is a national emergency. But it should never have taken 27 heart-breaking deaths for the government to realise the crossings must stop.

RICHARD KAY: Sergeant Allan Peters claims Prince Charles returned to Camilla after he discovered Diana had been having a fling with Barry Mannakee.

The 1.7-mile sacred Avenue of Sphinxes was used every year for a festival called 'Opet' that was held the second month of the Nile flooding seasons and always on November 25.

Maryam Nuri, from Ranya in northern Iraq, is thought to be one of the victims of the capsized flimsy boat which sank off the coast of Calais on Wednesday amid harsh seas and cold temperatures.

At least 11 miners were killed when coal dust ignited in a ventilation shaft 820ft below the surface eastern Russia around 9am this morning, local emergency services told TASS news agency.

New rules being hammered out in Brussels today could include a ban on unvaccinated travellers coming into the bloc from March, including those whose last jab was more than nine months ago.

Meat from dogs constitutes a major part of South Korean cuisine with about one million dogs believed to be eaten annually, but consumption has declined recently as more people embrace them as pets.

Gynaecologist Dr. Giovanni Miniello, 60, was the target of an undercover TV investigation and told an actress who was posing as a patient she had HPV and offered to cure her with sex.

To report an inaccuracy, please email corrections @mailonline.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonline .co.uk/readerseditor.

Sajid Javid said the government was taking 'proportionate and balanced' precautions to 'buy time', but stressed there is no certainty that the 'super-mutant' strain will be able to dodge jabs.

Australian Federal MP Bob Katter has been refused entry to a NSW pub after he failed to show his Covid vaccine passport. 

Labour Lord David Blunkett (pictured), 74, has claimed BBC Radio 4 is forgetting its key audience and spending too much time focussing on its own presenters.

Anti-slavery protesters plan to confront Prince Charles to demand reparations from the royals and the UK Government for slavery during his visit to Barbados.

A crew of all female cleaners have been stood down from Sino Iron project in WA after filming themselves handing out sex toys to their males colleagues in a prank.

Huge crowds of protestors were seen in Munich and Rome on Saturday as marchers held up signs reading: 'Be free from violence' and 'Love has no bruises.'

A man has drowned off Dee Why Beach, on Sydney's Northern Beaches, after he was found struggling in the water.

George Kambosos Jr etched his name in Aussie boxing folklore with a stunning win over Teofimo Lopez in their unified lightweight championship grudge match in New York.

James Grayson, 41, from Frimley, Surrey, tested positive for coronavirus on October 19 after he collapsed at home and was admitted to his local hospital Frimley Park in Surrey.

A Cabinet Office memo urges staff to carry out 'due diligence' on individuals before asking them to appear at internal functions.

NSW Health announced on Sunday urgent genomic testing had confirmed two overseas travellers have the South African variant of the virus.

Hundreds of people flocked to Leeds for a night out last night. Storm Arwen has battered parts of Yorkshire and the rest of the UK but the weather did not deter people.

Woollahra Council approved his plans for a three-storey renovation that would have given the historic home - previously owned by the iconic Fairfax family - a see-through curved facade.

At least 30 people headed into two Best Buy stores in Burnsville and Maplewood Minnesota on Black Friday at around 8pm and stole electronics in a craze that appears to have started in California.

Twelve police forces are using software which allows victims to send pictures of crime sceens directly to cops. Victims' groups say the software must not replace face-to-face visits.

Hilda Cabrales, who was left outside a hospital in LA two hours after her friend and model Christy Giles' dead body was dumped outside a different hospital in the area, has been declared brain dead.

They have decided to replace the gender-specific titles with 'aviators' in a bid to be 'more modern and appropriate'.

Stephen Sondheim, 91, went to see one of his most famous shows less than two weeks before he passed away. The lyricist and composer sat in the fifth row of Company on Broadway.