Go walking with a friend for exercise but don’t sit down with them, Michael Gove tells public at start of new lockdown

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Asked if people could “meet a friend and go for a walk together”, the Cabinet Office minister replied: “Yes, provided you maintain social distance and provided that it is exercise.” But he added: “One of the things that we do want to stop is the idea of people essentially congregating or socialising outside.” Asked if that meant “don’t sit down together, otherwise it no longer counts as exercise”, Mr Gove agreed those were the new rules. “But we're anxious to make sure that people exercise common sense and clear messages – do stay at home, of course exercise once a day, but also do everything possible to restrict social contact. “As the health secretary has said, if people behave as though they were already infected then we are all better protected.” Prime minister Boris Johnson announced England would enter its third national lockdown on 6 January during a televised address from Downing Street on Monday evening. Just hours after Boris Johnson promised a mid-February review point, his Cabinet ally warned the public to expect the curbs to remain for longer “Nobody can predict with accuracy exactly what we will be able to relax and when,” Mr Gove said.