LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday defended his government's decision to ease restrictions to stop the COVID-19 spread over the festive period, saying it would be inhuman to "ban Christmas".

"I want to be clear we don't want to, as I say, to ban Christmas, to cancel it," he told a media conference.

"And I think that would be frankly inhuman and against the instincts of many people in this country."