Lord Frost quit government 'due to disagreements over plan B Covid restrictions'

Lord Frost has said he quit the government due to disagreements over Covid rules and warned Boris Johnson against going ahead with any further “coercive” restrictions.

Speaking for the first time since his departure, Lord Frost said: “I left the Government because, as I think is well known, I couldn’t support certain policies – most recently on Covid restrictions and Plan B.

He insisted he supported Boris Johnson and that the pair were aligned when it came to Brexit policy when speaking to reporters on Monday.

He expressed his “huge admiration” for what Mr Johnson has done as a leader in ensuring the UK exited the EU.

The Conservative peer, who has led negotiations with the EU, quit the Cabinet with immediate effect over the weekend after his initial plan to resign in January – agreed with the prime minister – became public.

In his resignation letter, the former Brexit minister cited “the current direction of travel” of the Government, as well as fears over “coercive” Covid measures and the wish for the UK to become a “lightly regulated, low-tax” economy.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab denied the government was planning coercive measures when it came to handling the pandemic.

On Monday he said: "I think we had taken some laissez-faire approach to this pandemic whether on the healthcare measures or the economic measures we would have seen much greater damaged to public health."

Mr Raab refused to rule out introducing any new Covid-19 restrictions before Christmas on Monday as fears of Omicron ripping through the country remained high.

When asked if he could confirm there will be no more new restrictions in the coming days, Mr Raab told Sky News: “Well, I just can’t make hard and fast guarantees.”

But he insisted "we will have a much better Christmas" than 2020 and "we’re in a better position to enjoy Christmas with loved ones this year" due to the number of people fully vaccinated and the uptake in the booster programme.

The Cabinet is due to meet at 2pm on Monday to discuss the pandemic.

Lord Frost's resignation came after a difficult few weeks for the prime minister as he's struggled to keep on top of the Christmas party scandals and a shock by-election defeat.Lord Frost was firm in his support for the prime minister on Monday saying his resignation from the top of government was “absolutely not about leadership”

He added: “I’m absolutely confident this country has a great future under Boris Johnson’s leadership if we can get the policies right.”

Asked if Mr Johnson is the right man to carry on as Prime Minister, Lord Frost said: “The departure is about policy differences, and I’m absolutely confident that he’s the right man to take the country forward.”

On whether more ministers will resign if Mr Johnson implements further Covid restrictions, Lord Frost said: “I can’t speak for anybody else, I can only say what I think, which is that I don’t support coercive policies on Covid.

“The Prime Minister has got some very difficult decisions to take and I’m sure he’ll be thinking very hard at them.”Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has taken over responsibility for the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

Lord Frost said: “Right up to the last day we’ve been absolutely aligned on that, and Liz Truss and Chris Heaton-Harris, I’m sure are going to do a great job.

“And if you’re a minister you have to support collective responsibility, you have to support decisions of the Government, and I couldn’t, so that’s why I had to leave.”

Ms Truss underwent a transformation from being pro-Remain to an avid Brexiteer following the referendum in 2016.