ROBERT Buckland is not ruling out a second national lockdown.

The justice secretary and South Swindon MP was grilled over the government's coronavirus response on television this morning.

He was speaking ahead of the introduction of the 'Rule of Six' on Monday morning - announced by Boris Johnson last week as Covid-19 cases begin to grow across the country.

Mr Buckland told Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge: “As the prime minister has said going into a national lockdown would be a nuclear option.

“I think here in autumn 2020 knowing much more about Covid but still without a vaccine we have to take a range of measures which includes enhanced testing, localised measures and the Rule of Six.

“This is like a half marathon, normally at this time of the year I’m running half marathons. You get to the point in the race where the gradient starts to go up, it feels really tough but you have to dig in and remember that the finishing line is there and concentrate on doing the job.”

Ridge roasted Mr Buckland on whether it’s okay for people to flout in a ‘specific and limited way’ – referring to the controversial Brexit legislation and the prospect of the Conservative government breaking international law.

Mr Buckland said: “The police are used to using their judgement in every situation that is presented to them.We don’t want to have to resort to enforcement proceedings but we will do if we see egregious breaches and the fines can be quite significant. We’re doing this to protect each other and save lives.

“We’re talking about international law and domestic law on a political scale which is a world away. The government is absolutely committed to the rule of law.”