Politics
Covid travel rules for Brits ‘that will add £500 to cost of a family holiday’ slammed by MPs
BORIS Johnson has been urged to relax Covid travel rules that will add £500 to the cost of the average family holiday abroad.
Powerful MPs have urged No 10 to drop its “costly” test and quarantine plans will sink millions’ of Brits hopes for a getaway in the sun.
Brits are hoping to get away for some sun this summer[/caption]
And they warned the Government risks a “missed opportunity” to capitalise on our soaraway vaccines success and reopen international travel.
In a new report the Commons transport committee warned the new border rules, set out Global Travel Taskforce Report, are “disproportionate to the risk”.
And it also slams ministers over their vagueness on how the traffic light system will work when it is introduced on May 17.
The dossier warns foreign travel risks having its “wings clipped” this year by the “cautious” approach.
It comes after The Sun revealed how Europe is preparing to reopen to Brits thanks to our vaccine success.
Committee Chairman Huw Merriman said: “The aviation and travel sectors were crying out for a functional report, setting out clear rules and offering certainty.
“This is not it. Where the industry craved certainty, the Government has failed to provide it.
“For UK citizens seeking to travel to the parts of the globe where the vaccine has been delivered as rapidly as the UK, the cost to families from testing could be greater than the cost of the flights.”
MPs have warned testing requirements will add £500 to the average family holiday[/caption]
He added: “This is a missed opportunity for the Government to capitalise on the UK’s world-leading ‘vaccine dividend’.
“How can it be right that hauliers, arriving from parts of the globe where the vaccine roll-out is slow, are able to use cheaper lateral flow testing whilst a trip back from Israel requires a PCR test which is four times as expensive.
“This was an opportunity to provide a global lead with standardised rules on international health certification and promoting app-based technology, making the processes at borders more secure and less time consuming.
“The urgent situation facing the aviation and travel sectors warrants a clear action plan to green light our travel – and the Government must urgently set it out.”
The report warns the costs of testing will add £500 to a holiday for a family of four “travelling to the safest parts of the globe where the vaccine roll-out is comparable to the UK”.
And it says: “This distinct lack of clarity does not offer confidence to industry or consumers to plan, invest or recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
“It leaves the planned safe restart of international travel on May 17 in jeopardy.”
The MPs want the Government to make an announcement to Parliament on May 1 detailing which countries will fall into the green, amber, and red categories.
They are also demanding ministers fully “explain the criteria and mechanisms by which countries will move between risk categories” in time for the start of next month.
The report calls on No 10 to “act immediately to reduce waiting times and queues at the UK border” after travellers had to wait for up to six hours amid chaos at Heathrow.
Finally, the MPs are urging the PM to intervene and make testing more affordable for holidaymakers.
Under the new system Brits returning from green countries will be able to use a cheap lateral flow test before they board the plane back home.
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But they will still have to pay for a more accurate PCR swab on their second day – at an average cost of around £128.
People coming back from amber destinations will have to quarantine for up to 10 days and take two PCR tests.
And those arriving from red nations – from which only British citizens and residents are allowed to travel – have to hotel quarantine for 10 days at a cost of £1,700 each.
