Michael Gove has insisted he did not leak details of England’s second national lockdown before the government intended to announce them.
The Cabinet Office minister was present in a meeting with Boris Johnson, chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Matt Hancock where the new rules were discussed.
Details of the plan were reported in The Times on Friday evening, with the paper revealing the prime minister was due to hold a press conference on Monday to announce them. The Daily Mail and The Sun also carried similar stories.
Johnson subsequently held a cabinet meeting on Saturday morning and held a press conference in the evening to reveal the decision.
Johnson has launched an inquiry the find the source of the stories.
Asked by Andrew Marr on the BBC if he leaked the information, Gove replied: “No.” Asked if he knew who leaked it, he said: “No.”
Gove also confirmed on Sunday morning the four-week national lockdown could be extended beyond December 2 if coronavirus infection rates do not significantly fall.
Speaking to Sky News, he said he believed the restrictions would bring down the R value, but warned that people may have to stay at home for longer if not.
Pubs, bars, restaurants and non-essential retail will close from Thursday for four weeks across England, with furlough payments at 80% extended for the duration of the new measures.
People will be allowed to exercise and socialise in public spaces outside with their household or one other person, but not indoors or in private gardens, and will be able to travel to work if they cannot work from home.
Yet unlike in the lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic, schools, colleges and nurseries will remain open.
Asked during an interview on Ridge On Sunday whether the national lockdown could be extended, Gove replied: “Yes.”
He said: “We want to be in a position where we can – and I believe that this is likely to be the case – have an approach where if we bring down the rate of infection sufficiently we can reduce measures nationally and also reduce measures regionally.
“Because the regional approach is one that, wherever possible, we want to take because again we recognise it may be the case in the future that having reduced R below 1, having reduced national restrictions, we may see a specific upsurge in specific areas which will require specific regional measures.”
His warning was echoed by former chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walport, who said there was “obviously a possibility” that the restrictions could last longer than the first lockdown.