UK can expect at least three Covid waves with lockdowns, Mordaunt says

Tory MP defends strategy as rebels warn they will not vote to extend latest restrictions

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The UK should be braced for at least a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and further lockdowns, a minister has said as Tory sceptics warned they would not vote to extend England's four-week shutdown.

Penny Mordaunt, the paymaster general, told MPs on Tuesday that there could yet be a rolling series of lockdowns - but argued this was not evidence that the measure was ineffective.