It has been suggested that there may be a special reduction in steps this holiday season for families to reunite.
The government will set any limits on coronavirus by Christmas “in the next few days”, the cabinet minister told Sky News.
England’s second national shutdown will end on December 2, when the government has promised another line of legislation – depending on local infection rates – to reinstate it.
The UK government and transferred officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also in talks on what COVID-19 measures should be in place for Christmas.
Recent reports have suggested that there may be a special reduction in the holiday season for families to reunite.
Asked by Sky News’s Kay Burley how many family members will be allowed to gather at the Christmas table, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said: “I have a family, I’d like to know that, and I think that’s why in the next few days the government will set that information.”
However the minister also suggested that Britons may have to wait until the current closure to get more details about Christmas.
Mr Wallace said – due to the time remaining between the closure measures and the reduction of COVID-19 infections – ministers would know more about the impact of England’s new closure “as we approach December 2nd.
“With the arrival of December 2, the government will address all the various issues,” he added.
“We will enter into the reunion process.
“I think our goals are the same, we would like to see our families for Christmas, we would like to get together as much as possible.
Emphasizing also what rules for different mixing families that may exist over Christmas, Mr Wallace said: “We will be able to tell you that once we get to 2 December.
“I can’t give you many of those answers, there’s a lot of speculation.”
On Wednesday, scientists suggested that the daily reduction of coronavirus limits at Christmas could require five days of drastic measures.
Speaking to Sky News’s Kay Burley this morning, former Labor Minister Gordon Brown said: “I’ve got to be prime minister, you have to have two steps before the events.
“What he has to do, Boris Johnson, says,” Look, if there is any doubt as to whether we can let people gather for Christmas, we must do something now.
“We have to work hard now. You have to have two steps forward as Prime Minister, you can’t be behind the curve.
“And we used to do things at the last minute when we should have acted quickly.”
Yesterday, a spokesman for the prime minister said he had “a clear intention to allow families to spend Christmas together” but stressed that “it will not be the norm”.