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Gatherings of more than six people from more than one household were made a crime in England from 14 September, at home, outdoors, in pubs or restaurants, but not at funerals. At the start of the week, Sunday 6 September, total deaths within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus had stood at 41,549 — 51 more than a week earlier. Testing found 2,988, 2,948 and 2,420 cases on consecutive days, notably among those aged 17 to 24. Restrictions on home visits in the west of Scotland covered 1.1 million people, a fifth of the Scottish population. People were suddenly banned from leaving Caerphilly without a ‘reasonable excuse’. Seven Greek islands joined countries from which travellers returning to England would have to undergo 14 days’ quarantine. Wales had a different list of six Greek islands, Northern Ireland didn’t mind and Scotland quarantined the whole of Greece. On one day, Border Force intercepted 223 migrants in the Channel; 106 people were stopped by the French. In August at least 1,468 migrants made the crossing.
Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, told the Commons that the UK Internal Market Bill being introduced by the government, ‘does break international law in a very specific and limited way’. It made ‘minor clarifications’, the government said, of the withdrawal agreement made with the European Union in 2019, including a protocol (now said to be ‘contradictory’) regarding Northern Ireland trade. Some saw it as a wrecking tactic, others as a spur to agreement. Sir Jonathan Jones announced his resignation next April as permanent secretary to the government legal department. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said that a trade agreement must be reached by the European Council meeting on 15 October.
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