Politics
Green list announcement: What did Grant Shapps say in his traffic light speech today, Friday, May 7?
BRITS keen to take off for sunny holidays abroad are readying their passports as the government’s green travel list has been revealed.
Grant Shapps today (May 7) unveiled a traffic light system, which saw the world carved up into green, amber or red zones based on vaccine roll-out and case rates, as well as new variants found.
The travel list was announced on May 7, including Portugal and Malta[/caption]
What did Grant Shapps say in his travel speech today, Friday, May 7?
Shapps held a press conference tonight (May 7) to reveal the green list of destinations for holidays this summer.
The Transport Secretary set out which countries Brits can travel to without having to quarantine on their return from May 17.
Countries are ranked either green, amber or red under a new traffic light system.
It classifies destinations based on measures including the proportion of a country’s population vaccinated, rates of infection and emerging new variants.
The list of green areas was very short with only a handful of European countries making it onto the first round of the green list, including Gibraltar, Iceland and Portugal.
These countries also included Malta, the Falkand Islands, Ascension, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Israel, Faroe Islands, Singapore and Brunie.
New Zealand and Australia are also on the green list – but they have their own entry requirements and are unlikely to let in tourists at the moment.
Summer favourites such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece are not yet on the green list, being added to the amber list initially.
They could switch to green when the situation is reviewed at a “checkpoint” on June 28.
Brits are advised not to book anywhere on the amber list, just in case things get worse and it turns red.
Turkey, Nepal and the Maldives are to be slammed on the red list, Mr Shapps said tonight – meaning Brits coming home will have to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days and pay £1,750 for the privilege.
The news put the Champion’s League Final between Manchester City and Chelsea in doubt as fans were told not to travel to Turkey.
Mr Shapps said: “We in this country have managed to construct a fortress against Covid. But the disease is still prevalent in other parts of the world, most notably at the moment in India.
“In fact, more new cases of Covid have been diagnosed around the world in the last seven days than at any time since the pandemic began.”
He added: “That’s why today’s announcement, removing the stay in the UK restrictions from May 17, is necessarily cautious.
“We must make absolutely sure that the countries we reconnect with are safe, that their infection rates are low and their vaccination rates are high.
“It means making sure we are not incubating the most dangerous variants that they’re not and that they have safe and secure surveillance in place.”
Mr Shapps said the UK has managed to construct a fortress against Covid[/caption]
Every arrival into the UK will have to take a gold standard PCR test — booked before the holiday — at least two days after coming home.
The private tests will be used to catch and stop any vaccine-busting variants from entering the UK and usually cost around £120, although some providers on the government list are dropping to around £45.
There will be no exemptions for fully vaccinated punters.
Mr Shapps explained that these lists will be regularly reviewed.
The next review is set to take place in three weeks – so on May 28.
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How can I watch Grant Shapps’ speech?
Brits eager to know where they can jet off to from May 17 can watch Grant Shapps’ announcement on The Sun’s YouTube channel.
In addition, our live green list announcement blog provides updates.
