Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under scrutiny after it emerged SAGE advised him to enact a ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown three weeks ago – only for him to seemingly ignore their advice

SAGE officially advised the Government to bring in a “circuit-breaker” lockdown three weeks ago.

The papers emerged shortly after Boris Johnson unveiled a new three-tier local system yesterday to determine each area’s risk level.

Chris Whitty conceded at a press conference that the ‘very high risk’ Tier 3 measures were not on their own enough to contain the virus.

And it has emerged that the Government seemingly ignored the advice of SAGE three weeks ago to go further and impose a short national lockdown.

Later, there will be updated guidance published over shielding for the vulnerable in areas under the three-tier system now covered by measures.

Liverpool and the surrounding region are the only places to be covered by the strictest ‘very high risk’ rules, which will see pubs close on Wednesday.