Mark Logan, MP for Bolton North East, asked a question of the prime minister, Boris Johnson, in parliament yesterday around the Indian variant.

Mr Logan encouraged the PM to push for most of Bolton to be vaccinated in order to stop this rising spread.

However, while Mr Johnson said the government is looking at 'potential solutions' to stop surging cases in areas such as Bolton, this was not at 'the top of the list'.

Mark Logan asked the prime minister: "With a high prevalence of the Indian variants and among the highest infection rates in the UK at 150-plus per 100,000, will the Prime Minister join me in pushing for most of Bolton to be vaccinated ASAP?"

Boris Johnson responded, saying: "My hon. Friend makes a very good point about the rates of infection of the B.1.617.2 variant, as we should probably call it.

"At the moment the cases look as though they are about 860 or so, but there may be more. It may be more transmissible—it may be considerably more transmissible.

"We are looking at all the potential solutions for the surges we are seeing in Bolton and elsewhere, including the one that he describes, though that is not top of the list at the moment."