Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, has announced changes to England's Tier system with swathes of the East and South-East of England entering Tier 3.

The areas which will go into the toughest tier of restrictions from midnight on Saturday are Bedfordshire; Buckinghamshire; Berkshire; Peterborough; Hertfordshire; Surrey - except for Waverley; Hastings and Rother; Portsmouth; Gosport; and Havant.

Bristol and North Somerset will move down a tier, to Tier 2, while Herefordshire is to move out of Tier 2 into Tier 1 - in light of a case rate of 45 per 100,000.

It comes after Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester - which has remained in Tier 3 - said ministers will need to "overcompensate" for the "mistake" of Christmas bubbles.

Earlier this week, London and parts of Kent and Hertfordshire were placed into Tier 3 ahead of the formal review in light of their rising case rates.

For the latest developments, follow our liveblog here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/12/17/brexit-news-latest-no-deal-talks-boris-johnson-tiers-fishing/

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