LEADER of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer has called on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to apologise to the British public for his handling of the Christmas Covid-19 restrictions.

The Labour leader said Boris Johnson has made mistakes "over and over again" and called for a public apology from the Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson moved London and vast swathes of the South East and East of England into new Tier 4 restrictions yesterday, cancelling the planned Christmas bubbles and enforcing a travel ban into or out of Tier 4 areas.

For the rest of the country, the five day loosening of restrictions has been reduced to just Christmas Day.

The move came days after Boris Johnson said to cancel Christmas would be "inhuman" and ignored calls from Labour and scientists to change the Christmas bubble plans.

Sir Keir said: “I think the Prime Minister should apologise.

"This is not just one mistake when he has otherwise got things right. It is the same mistake over and over again.

“At the heart of the problem here is a Prime Minister who simply doesn’t want to be unpopular and therefore won’t take the tough decisions that are necessary, until he is forced into them at the 11th hour.

“We can’t go on like that. I think that it is very important that the Prime Minister does apologise to people for his handling of this episode of the pandemic.”

The last-minute rule change saw vast numbers of Londoners try to flee the capital and Tier 4 rules last night before they came into force this morning, cramming onto overcrowded trains where social distancing was impossible, and potentially spreading the new, more infectious strain of Covid-19 which has appeared in the south east across the rest of the country.

This morning, Matt Hancock called these travellers "totally irresponsible" and London Mayor Sadiq Khan said their actions were "wrong".