Quarantine chaos: Border officials complain plan to isolate

Quarantine chaos: Border officials complain plan to isolate travelers to UK is 'unenforceable', the public will be 'trusted' to follow rules and 'absurd loopholes' include electronic passport holders being waived straight through


Government plans to quarantine all travellers entering Britain have been called 'unenforceable' by critics


The Border Force and the police have warned the scheme would 'hang the Closed sign on Britain' to visitors

The Prime Minister is considering axing the scheme ten days before arrivals will be told to self-isolate

The Border Force are concerned the new measures could put even more strained on their depleted numbers

Travel firms appeal for UK quarantine plan to be scrapped

Under new quarantine plans, anyone arriving in the UK from abroad from 8 June will be told to isolate for 14 days.

But now a group of 200 travel companies has written to Home Secretary Priti Patel, making a last-minute appeal for the proposal to be scrapped.

They say that travel should be possible without quarantine if people are moving between destinations "deemed safe from coronavirus".

Among the signatories to the letter are hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, hotels The Ritz, The Connaught and Mandarin Oriental, and upmarket travel agent Kuoni.

400 British travellers to return on charter flights

More than 400 British travellers will be able to return home from central and South America on special charter flights this month, the UK Government has said.

Two transatlantic flights from Costa Rica and Ecuador will leave for London Stansted on June 11.

British travellers from Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Chile will be able to board "sweeper flights" which will take them to Costa Rica and Ecuador for the final transatlantic passage back to the UK.

The Government has already brought back more than 2,100 British travellers from the region during the coronavirus pandemic.

Travellers should be 'treated as unknown'

Asked about the plans for the 14-day quarantine, John Newton stresses that he is not a member of Sage, whose advice this policy is based on.

But if people are coming into the country, they have to be treated as an "unknown" and therefore quarantined, he says.

If the risk was so low we could just take the chance, but it is too early to say that and it is better to be cautious, he says.

If we were able to respond quickly with a Test & Trace programme we could cover it in that way, he adds.

At the moment, I think caution has won the day, Prof Newton adds.

Asked about summer holidays, Matt Hancock says last week he was more optimistic than previously. But the number one priority is to keep people safe.

He declines to speculate on which other European countries might be interested in forming an "air bridge" with the UK, to allow quarantine-free travel.

It wasn't that long ago people were saying why haven't we got quarantine in place ,it's a hard one, because if we don't have quarantine and numbers go up people will say why didn't we have quarantine you know they will.

Tourism bosses warn 'catastrophic' quarantine will force them to axe up to 60 per cent of staff
The bosses of Britain’s biggest travel and hospitality businesses have warned the Government they will have to lay off up to 60 per cent of their staff if it presses ahead with quarantine.

An exclusive survey of the owners and chief executives of the businesses - who account for £5 billion worth of sales - found that 71 per cent expected to make 60 per cent of their staff redundant if quarantine goes ahead on June 8.

They say the quarantine will have a “catastrophic” impact on the economy, even if the restrictions are eased at the end of June with the introduction of “travel corridors” or “air bridges” for holiday destinations like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and France.

Boris Johnson faced a lot of criticism from his own MPs earlier over the plans for a blanket quarantine of people coming into the UK.

It’s clear the PM is sticking by the idea, arguing now is the time to take measures to avoid new cases being brought into the country.

It’s not, however, totally clear from the answers we’ve heard at the briefing that the scientists advised taking this approach now.

It is clear that Mr Johnson is going to keep facing pressure on this, both in Westminster and from the aviation and tourism industries.

Members of the aviation industry have held a conference call with the government following an announcement that people landing in the UK will have to undergo a two-week quarantine period.

Aviation bosses are fuming about the quarantine. And the phone call seems to have made things worse.

One person present on the conference call described it as “a shambles”.

The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps wasn’t there because he was leading the Downing Street briefing and making a big announcement about face coverings become compulsory on public transport.But airline bosses were apparently unimpressed.

They felt they got no reassurances from the Home Secretary Priti Patel that the quarantine would be reduced in any significant way soon by agreeing so-called “air bridges”, safe corridors between the UK and countries with low infection rates meaning people won’t have to self-isolate after they travel.

That is an interesting contradiction in tone from other government sources who insist ministers are working hard to establish a number of air bridges, especially with European countries, as soon as possible.

The fact that British Airways’ sister company, IAG didn’t even attend the call is the ultimate sign that relations between the government and UK aviation are rock bottom.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma tests negative for Coronavirus. He got his result back in a day.
So why can't people be tested by border control and only self isolate if tested positive

Quarantine policy to be decided in court

Boris Johnson’s quarantine policy is set to be decided in court with more than 500 travel and hospitality businesses expected on Monday to join a legal bid by airlines to reverse the restrictions.

A new group called Quash Quarantine, which includes major names such as hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, will announce how it plans to stop the policy in its tracks, with options including backing a judicial review or seeking its own injunction.

They claim the quarantine rule — which comes into force on Monday — is driven by politics rather than science, with one senior figure accusing the Prime Minister’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings of pursuing it as a “tactic” in Brexit negotiations.

Almost all arrivals into the UK must now self-isolate for 14 days, which the travel industry says will have a “catastrophic” impact on the sector and on the wider UK economy.

British Airways’ parent company IAG, Ryanair and Easyjet have already sent a “pre-action” letter to the Government, setting out why they believe the coronavirus quarantine policy is legally “wholly unjustified,” “disproportionate,” and “unfair.”

Scrap quarantine and start testing at UK airports - Labour

People coming into the UK should be tested for coronavirus "within days" of their arrival, the leader of the Labour opposition party, Sir Keir Starmer, has said.

From Monday, most people arriving in the country must quarantine for 14 days.

Starmer said the new rule was a "blunt instrument" used too late, at a time when other countries were lifting travel restrictions.

"I actually would much prefer to see some sort of testing regime at the airport" or "within days of [people] coming in", he told LBC Radio.

The quarantine has also provoked fierce criticism from the aviation and travel industries, with the boss of Ryanair labelling it ineffective and a "political stunt".

Home Secretary Priti Patel has said the measures were designed "to prevent a second wave" of coronavirus.