Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he does not rule out imposing tougher Covid-19 restrictions if necessary.

During PMQs, he told the Commons: “We keep things under constant review and we will continue to do so.

“And certainly if there is any need to toughen up restrictions, which I don’t rule out, we will of course come to this House.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the current restrictions are “not strong enough”.

During PMQs, Sir Keir said: “Every time there’s a big decision to take, the Prime Minister gets there late. The next big decision is obvious, the current restrictions are not strong enough to control the virus.

“Stronger restrictions are needed. There’s no point members opposite shaking their heads, in a week or two the Prime Minister is likely to be asking members to vote for this.

“Can the Prime Minister tell us when infection rates are much higher than in March, when hospital admissions are much higher than last March, when death rates are much higher than last March, why on earth are restrictions weaker than last March?”

Sir Keir questioned why Boris Johnson was “so slow to act” when infection rates began to surge in December.

The Labour leader said: “The last PMQs was on December 16. The Prime Minister told us then that we were seeing, in his words, a significant reduction in the virus. He told us then that there was no need for endless lockdowns and no need to change the rules about Christmas mixing.

“Since then, since that last PMQs, 17,000 people have died of Covid, 60,000 people have been admitted to hospital and there has been over a million new cases. How did the Prime Minister get it so wrong and why was he so slow to act?”

The Prime Minister replied: “Of course, what (Sir Keir) fails to point out is that on December 18, two days later, the Government was informed of the spread of the new variant and the fact that it spreads roughly 50-70% faster than the old variant, and that is why it is indeed correct to say that the situation today is very troubling indeed.”

He added: “This is the toughest of times, but we can see the way forward.”