Dominic Raab today warned the UK 'could end up in a national lockdown' if Boris Johnson 's new coronavirus crackdown fails to get the disease under control. The Foreign Secretary said a second shutdown 'is what we want to avoid' but the nuclear option remains in the Government's 'arsenal' if all else fails. Mr Raab said he hoped 'if everyone plays by the rules' then the nation will be able to go into the Christmas period without a national lockdown being imposed. He also defended the Government's plans to allow the police to ask the Army for help in order to boost Covid-19 enforcement. Mr Raab said military personnel could be drafted in to 'relieve capacity' and allow officers to concentrate on enforcing rules as he dismissed claims that soldiers will be patrolling the streets as 'scaremongering'. The Foreign Secretary's intervention came as critics blasted the Government for seemingly failing to take any of the responsibility for the spike in cases despite ministers presiding over numerous chaotic U-turns and policy changes in recent months. Tory MPs said the Government's handling of the crisis has been a 'total shambles' and that repeated shifts in official guidance had left many people across the country confused as to what the rules actually are. Meanwhile, it was claimed that Professor Chris Whitty has told Mr Johnson that England will likely have to follow Scotland's lead in banning visits between separate households.