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Hello. Like my colleague Linda geddes Reports in our overnight story, the discovery of six cases of the highly transmissible variant of the Brazilian coronavirus in the UK – three in England and three in Scotland – has reignited concerns that border controls imposed by the UK government are not severe enough. His story is here.
Yvette cooper, the Labor chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, appeared on the Today program this morning saying that ministers have been told repeatedly that the measures currently in place in England may be inadequate. She made the same remarks in a Twitter thread last night with ‘I told you so’ evidence.
Yvette cooper
(@YvetteCooperMP)The cases of the Brazilian variant currently in the UK came a month after I first raised this issue with the Prime Minister.
People traveled on indirect flights – an issue I also raised with PM that day.
When it is so important to protect the immunization program, why has the government been so slow to act? / 1 https://t.co/64TM724MOS
Yvette cooper
(@YvetteCooperMP)Delays introducing measures such as hotel quarantine have facilitated the spread of Brazilian variants across the UK.
But even now 99% of arrivals are not covered by the hotel quarantine as we heard this week.
And it is worth noting that testing up to 72 hours before the flight did not catch these cases / 2 https://t.co/Aj8Lpo0U2u
Yvette cooper
(@YvetteCooperMP)“Three Scottish residents had flown to the north-east of Scotland from Brazil via Paris and London”
On several occasions I have asked ministers why not test travelers when they first arrive in the UK before returning home by public transport (metro / train / plane)? Why are they refusing to do this? /3https://t.co/m2WsNWHgVC
On the Today show, she made another point, saying the latest developments illustrated why summer vacation abroad might not be possible this year. When asked if she thinks the government should ban flights during the summer, she replied:
You’re right, one wonders if the government is raising any expectations for the summer vacation that it may not be able to meet, as it will depend on the relationship between the spread of these new variants and what happens. with the vaccine, and the timing of things like the booster shots.
And the scientists on the committee have informed us that these border measures, and the strength of those border measures, become even more important as domestic affairs decline. As our own cases fall and the economy and society open up, they argue that this is when we actually need stronger border measures, rather than reducing them.
The problem is that right now the government is encouraging people to think that this summer vacation will all be possible and that international travel will come back.
To be fair to the government, ministers never said that summer vacation abroad would certainly be possible. Going on vacation abroad is currently prohibited by law and, when asked, ministers say it is too early to say what will be allowed this summer.
But when Boris Johnson released his roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions in England last Monday, he announced a review of the rules for world travel that will report by April 12, and the roadmap ( pdf) indicated that once the review was published, “the government will determine when international travel should resume, which will not be until May 17”. This has caused an increase in overseas vacation bookings.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9:30 am: ONS publishes latest investigation into infection in Covid schools for England.
10:30 am: Anneliese Dodds, the Shadow Chancellor, delivers a speech on the economy.
12h: Downing Street holds its daily lobby briefing.
12:15 p.m .: Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford holds coronavirus briefing.
12:15 p.m .: Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Government’s Health Secretary, holds a coronavirus briefing.
4 p.m .: David Cameron, the former Prime Minister, testifies before the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.
5 p.m .: No 10 can hold a press conference.
Politics Live is now turning into a live blog on the UK coronavirus and, given how the Covid crisis overshadows everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we’ll cover non-Covid political stories as well, and when they seem bigger or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here is our live blog on the global coronavirus.
I am trying to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a straightforward question, include “Andrew” somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I try to answer the questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and answer above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do it for everyone.
If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m on it @AndrewSparrow.
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