Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice his Department assessed before devising the rule of six; during the covid-19 outbreak; and whether his Department made an assessment of the potential merits of other capacities.

As the Prime Minister set out, if we are to beat the virus then everyone, at all times, needs to limit social contact as much as possible. We are seeing daily case numbers rise rapidly and across the country, which is why the Government, the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser jointly agreed the changes we announced.

The rules have been simplified and strengthened so they are easier to understand, and so the police can identify and disperse illegal gatherings. We are also acting now to get the virus under control and, if we achieve that, we may be able to make changes and potentially lift the restrictions.