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Sir Keir Starmer today attacked Boris Johnson over the Government’s ‘amber list’ travel chaos as he claimed ministers have ‘lost control’ of the situation.
The Labour leader demanded the PM provide ‘absolute clarity’ on the circumstances in which people can go to the countries after 24 hours of ministers contradicting each other.
Sir Keir mocked Mr Johnson as he said that while the PM insists he does not want people to go to ‘amber list’ destinations on holiday he had actually ‘made it easier for them to do so’.
But the PM hit back and said people should only travel to those countries in ‘extreme circumstances’ as he also defended the decision not to make travel to ‘amber’ and ‘red’ nations illegal.
He said the Government is ‘trying to move away from endlessly legislating for everything and to rely on guidance and asking people to do the right thing’.
The row at PMQs came after another minister risked fuelling further travel confusion after she stressed that going to ‘amber list’ countries is not illegal and warnings are only ‘guidance’.
Skills Minister Gillian Keegan deepened the sense of chaos over the traffic light rules as she tried to paper over conflicting messages by arguing that the Government was trusting the public to be ‘sensible’.
In an extraordinary muddle yesterday, George Eustice first suggested trips to ‘amber’ countries – including most of Europe – were acceptable if people wanted to see friends and family.
Hours later the PM overruled his Environment Secretary by insisting such travel was off limits.
That was followed by Health Minister Lord Bethell claiming holidays anywhere abroad were ‘dangerous’ with foreign trips ‘not for this year’.
The peer even failed to rebuff the idea that returning holidaymakers should be electronically tagged in quarantine.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart then waded in last night by saying ‘some people might think a holiday is essential’ and they should use their ‘common sense’.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock had said on Monday that people should only travel to ‘amber’ or ‘red’ list countries if they have an ‘exceptional reason’ for doing so.
Mr Hancock was asked to apologise to holidaymakers over the confusion as he hosted a Downing Street press conference this evening but he declined to do so and insisted the Government had been ‘absolutely straight forward’ on what the rules are.
To add to the uncertainty, the EU today announced that its member states will welcome fully-vaccinated Britons this summer without the need for virus tests or quarantine.
Sir Keir Starmer today accused Boris Johnson at PMQs over ‘losing control’ over the ‘amber list’ travel chaos
Gillian Keegan had deepened the sense of chaos over the traffic light rules after a day in which a series of senior figures contradicted each other
Hundreds of flights to amber countries have already left the UK and demand for foreign breaks has gone through the roof. Pictured: Departures at Heathrow Airport
George Eustice yesterday suggested trips to ‘amber’ countries to see friends and family were acceptable, but he was quickly contradicted by the PM
Sir Keir seized on the chaos at PMQs as he demanded answers from Mr Johnson.
The Labour leader said: ‘I think everybody would agree that having moved 170 countries to the amber list absolute clarity is needed about the circumstance in which people can travel to an amber country.
‘Yesterday morning the Environment Secretary said people can fly to amber list countries if they wanted to visit family or friends.
‘By the afternoon a government health minister said nobody should travel outside Britain this year and travelling is dangerous.
‘The Prime Minister said that travel to amber countries should only be where it is essential. By the evening the Welsh Secretary suggested some people might think a holiday is essential.
‘The Government has lost control of the messaging so can the Prime Minister answer a really simple question that goes to the heart of this? If he doesn’t want people to travel to amber list countries, if that is his position, he doesn’t want them to travel to amber list countries, why has he made it easier for them to do so?’
Mr Johnson hit back and said: ‘I think after more than a year of this I think the right honourable gentleman would understand that what the public would like to see is some effort to back up what the Government is saying, to deliver clarity of message.
‘On his point of legal bans, as he knows we are trying to move away from endlessly legislating for everything and to rely on guidance and asking people to do the right thing.
‘And it is very, very clear. You should not be going to an amber list country except for some extreme circumstance such as the serious illness of a family member.
‘You should not be going to an amber list country on holiday… and if you do go to an amber list country then as I say we will enforce the 10 day quarantine period and if you break the rules you face very substantial fines.’
Mr Hancock was asked to apologise for the chaos at a press conference this evening but he said: ‘We have been absolutely straight forward about this and the thing is I think that the public get it and understand.
‘If you look at what the Prime Minister said last week, what I said at the weekend, what I said in the House on Monday, what the Prime Minister said at lunchtime today, we have been absolutely crystal clear that you should not go to an amber or red list country on holiday, you should only go in exceptional circumstances.’
He said the public has been ‘brilliant at exercising the personal responsibility that we are seeking’ and his advice was to ‘book a holiday if you want a holiday abroad, that is what the green list is for, or like me to holiday at home’.
Ms Keegan had tried to clear up the mess in a round of interviews this morning as she said the ‘amber list’ was meant to be for ‘special circumstances’.
‘What we are saying is the amber list is not to go on holiday, not for pleasure travel at the moment,’ she told Sky News.
‘It’s not in legislation, we haven’t legislated to ban people from going on holiday abroad. This is guidance.
‘As with many of these things we have had throughout the pandemic this has been about relying on the great British public to be sensible and follow the guidance we have put in place and taking their own decisions really.
‘But, no, we wouldn’t advise going on holiday to the amber list countries.’
The contradictory messages from ministers have left beleaguered travel chiefs begging for clarity.
Hundreds of flights to amber countries have already left the UK and demand for foreign breaks has gone through the roof.
Conservative MPs demanded an end to the shambles. Huw Merriman, chairman of the Commons Transport Select Committee, said: ‘I’m afraid it’s a case of confusion reigns.
‘What’s the point in bringing in a traffic light mechanism, labelling amber countries as ‘moderate risk’ and then, by implication, shading them red by telling passengers they shouldn’t go?’
Another senior Tory described Lord Bethell’s comments as ‘idiotic’, adding: ‘If the Government is saying all travel is dangerous, then why has it just introduced a green list?
‘The confusion around the amber list is bad enough without adding to it.’
On Monday the outright ban on non-essential foreign travel was replaced by a green, amber and red traffic light system grading different countries by their Covid risk level.
But amid concern over foreign variants, ministers then announced that no one should holiday in an amber country even if they quarantined on their return.
And in another twist last night it emerged that more than 100 direct flights have arrived from India since the country was placed on a banned list last month.
This means that up to 8,000 travellers have flown in from the sub-continent despite concern over an Indian Covid variant that threatens to undermine the easing of lockdown.
Speaking on Monday when the non-essential international travel ban was removed, Mr Hancock said people should only travel to non-green list countries if they have an ‘exceptional’ reason for doing so.
Asked by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt in the Commons for ‘absolute clarity’ on whether people should go on holiday to ‘amber’ countries, Mr Hancock replied: ‘The answer is no.
‘The official Government advice is very clear that people should not travel to amber or red list countries or territories.
‘People should not travel to amber list countries for a holiday.’
He added: ‘If it isn’t on the green list, then unless you have an exceptional reason you shouldn’t be travelling there.’
Britain also confirmed another 2,412 Covid infections, down two per cent on the same time last week
Department of Health data showed another seven Covid deaths were recorded today, down by 65 per cent from last Tuesday when 20 were recorded. This was far below the darkest days of January when more than 1,000 people died a day
Positive test figures from the Wellcome Sanger Institute – which cover only lab-analysed cases in the two weeks between April 25 and May 8 – reveal the mutant Indian strain made up 50 per cent or more of all samples in 23 parts of the country by last week. Bolton and Blackburn in the North West remain the worst-hit areas with almost 600 cases between them and the variant making up 81 per cent of infections
The mayhem then began yesterday morning when Mr Eustice said there might be ‘reasons’ for going to ‘amber’ countries, such as visiting family and friends – and people could travel as long as they observed quarantine rules on their return.
Asked why, despite the travel advice, more than 150 aircraft left the UK for amber countries on Monday, he told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme: ‘We don’t want to stop travel altogether and the reason… that we have the amber list is there will be reasons why people feel they need to travel either to visit family or indeed to visit friends.’
Within hours, he appeared to have been overruled by the Prime Minister, who insisted amber countries were off limits for holidays.
Speaking yesterday lunchtime, Mr Johnson said: ‘It’s very important for people to grasp what an amber list country is: it is not somewhere where you should be going on holiday.
‘And if people do go to an amber list country – they absolutely have to for some pressing family or urgent business reason.
‘You will have to self-isolate, you’ll have to take tests and do your passenger locator form and all the rest of it, but you also have to self-isolate for ten days when you get back. And that period of self-isolation, that period of quarantine, will be enforced with fines of up to £10,000, so I think it’s important for you to understand what an amber-list country is.’
The situation was then again plunged into confusion as Lord Bethell told peers that people should avoid international travel altogether, despite the Government’s ‘green list’.
Speaking in the House of Lords yesterday afternoon, the Health Minister said: ‘Travelling is dangerous. That is not news to us or to the people who get on those planes in the first place.
‘We do ask people, particularly as we go into the summer, travelling is not for this year, please stay in this country.’
When Baroness Watkins of Tavistock called for consideration of the use of electronic quarantine tagging – as has been used in South Korea – the frontbencher said he was grateful for the suggestion.
Mr Hart told Times Radio yesterday evening that travel to ‘amber’ countries should only be for ‘essential’ reasons.
Asked if that ruled out a holiday, the Welsh Secretary replied: ‘Well some people might think a holiday is essential.
‘I can think of a quite a lot of people who do think that, but it’s about common sense we’re good at common sense.
‘We’re good at common sense as a population, and, and, and I think that, I think it is absolutely clear what Matt and what the PM have in mind here and I, so I don’t think we can again create a confusion where none exists.’
Labour’s Yvette Cooper, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the fiasco showed ministers ‘haven’t got a proper grip’.
EasyJet chief Johan Lundgren said: ‘Having set up a framework for international travel the Government seems to be single-handedly dismantling it and causing mass confusion with mixed messages and complex testing requirements.
To add to the confusion, health minister Lord Bethell claimed holidays anywhere abroad were ‘dangerous’ with foreign trips ‘not for this year’
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart suggested that some people would view a holiday as ‘essential’. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said on Monday that people should only travel to an ‘amber’ country if they have an ‘exceptional’ reason for doing so
‘Let’s face it – in this version of a traffic light system – green doesn’t mean green with all its testing restrictions and now amber, according to some ministers, actually means red. No wonder the British public is confused.
‘And in the meantime Europe moves forward with sensible travel frameworks which enable people to safely travel again while the UK tries to close down travel to all but a couple of countries.’
Tim Alderslade of the trade body Airlines UK said: ‘The messaging around amber is a total mess. It’s ridiculous for ministers to now come out and needlessly cause confusion by advising against travel.’
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman yesterday said people ‘should not travel’ to ‘amber’ countries for holidays.
The confusion came as EU ambassadors today backed plans to allow vaccinated UK holidaymakers to visit the bloc this summer.
They recommended at a meeting this morning that rules should be changed to allow non-essential visits into the EU by people who have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, a spokeswoman for the Portuguese presidency of the EU Council said.
The policy will need to be signed off by ministers of member states.
People in England are able to use an NHS app to display proof of their vaccination status.
A separate decision on whether to add the UK and other countries to the EU’s ‘safe list’ will be made on Friday.
Travellers from locations on the list are permitted to enter the bloc even if they are not vaccinated, but are generally required to show evidence of a recent negative test.
There are currently only eight countries on the list, including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Israel.
Portugal and Greece are among the EU countries that have broken ranks by already welcoming UK tourists, but the addition of the UK to the ‘safe list’ would boost the chances of a major summer getaway.
UK holidaymakers are currently prohibited from visiting several EU countries, including Spain, due to its ban on inbound leisure visits from outside the EU and Schengen Area.
The EU’s plans will increase calls for the Government to ease quarantine restrictions for vaccinated Britons who return to the UK after a holiday and to relax the advice not to travel.
Analysis by the Mail found 151 flights took off from eight major UK airports to amber countries yesterday.
Of these, 95 were to European countries ranked amber, including 21 to Spain and 7 to Greece.
Spanish and Greek tourism bosses want their islands on the UK’s green list
ByDavid Churchill and Gerard Couzens For The Daily Mail
Spanish and Greek tourism chiefs yesterday urged the UK to move their islands on to the green list for travel.
Fourteen-day infection rates in the Balearics have dropped below 50 cases per 100,000, the second lowest level among Spain’s 17 regions. Majorca has an infection rate of 42.74 per 100,000, Ibiza 25.69 and Formentera 16.51. Menorca’s is 76.02.
However the islands are lumped in with ‘amber’ mainland Spain where rates are higher. Portugal, which is on the green list, has a rate of around 49 per 100,000, according to the data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Spanish and Greek tourism chiefs yesterday urged the UK to move their islands on to the green list for travel. Majorca (pictured) has an infection rate of 42.74 per 100,000, Ibiza 25.69 and Formentera 16.51. Menorca’s is 76.02
Iago Negueruela, tourism minister for the Balearic Islands, urged UK ministers to ‘regionalise’ its green list to reopen quarantine-free holidays.
‘The Spanish government shares our strategy that the islands are considered separately,’ he said.
‘We’re asking for it because we’ve maintained controls at ports and airports for our national travellers. The UK can have the tranquillity that we are controlling the access of those travellers when they enter the Balearic Islands.
‘That means for instance that someone coming from Andalusia would need to show a negative PCR test to come to Majorca.
‘With such a low accumulated incidence of coronavirus, the fact we’ve retained control over ports and airports, and our ability to detect and control new strains, the security is much higher than many of the countries that have received a green light rating.’
Ministers have pledged to review the travel green list every three weeks and have not ruled out treating islands separately.
Officials in Greece say infection rates on their islands have been falling while vaccination rates have ramped up. On Kos, Crete and Mykonos more than a third of inhabitants have received at least one dose.
Vicky Loizou, the Greek government’s tourism chief, said she believed UK ministers ‘will change their decision’ not to treat the islands separately. She said British tourists were important to her country.
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