Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the move would constitute a repudiation by the Government of a treaty “freely negotiated by it” and which was described as “oven ready” by Mr Johnson.

A bombshell report in the Financial Times said the Prime Minister is planning new legislation that would override key parts of the Withdrawal Agreement – the treaty that sealed Britain’s exit from the EU in January.

In a video posted on Twitter by his family’s lawyer Ben Crump, Mr Blake said from his hospital bed: “Twenty-four hours, every 24 hours it’s pain, nothing but pain."

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, was praising the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme when he replied to a comment, saying: “Where they can, it’s a parents’ job to feed their children.”

Bolton Council said the new restrictions aim to prevent a local lockdown, after the town’s infection rate increased to 99 cases per 100,000 people per week – the highest in England.

One witness told BBC Radio 5 Live that the attack seemed like “one group of boys against another group of boys”.

In a bullish interview with the Mail on Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Europe sherpa said the UK was preparing to leave the transition period “come what may” – even if that meant exiting with no deal, which officials have dubbed a so-called “Australian-style” arrangement.

The country’s shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus said Mr Abbott’s knowledge of the ruling Liberal party and Australian government dealings could present an issue in trade discussions.

The latest data also indicates that a total of 6,732 new people tested positive for Covid-19 in England in the week to August 26, an increase of 6% in positive cases on the previous week and the highest weekly number since the week to June 3.