No 'normal' Christmas this year, says Britain's Finance Minister Rishi Sunak

Britain's Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday ruled out the possibility of a 'normal' Christmas as the government prepares for tighter restrictions amid worsening coronavirus crisis. 

"Frustrating as it is for all of us, Christmas is not going to be normal this year," Sunak told Sky's Sophie Ridge on Sunday, as quoted by news agency Reuters. 

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"But that said, the Prime Minister is, for example, looking at ways to see how families can spend time with each other."

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Sunak's comments came after the government affirmed that there will be a tougher set of restrictions after the current lockdown ends on December 2. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to discuss the plan with the MPs on Monday.

The British prime minister cannot expect an easy approval of tighter measures as 70 conservative MPs have said they would not back a new set of rules until they see cost-benefit analysis. 

Downing Streets has said more areas will be placed under tighter restrictions to contain the spread of the virus. 

Various media reports, however, suggest that these measures could be temporarily relaxed over Christmas. 

As per the official figures, there are 54,626 deaths and 1,493,383 coronavirus cases in the UK.