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Good Morning. Like my colleague Linda Geddes As our story reports overnight, the discovery of six cases of the highly communicable Brazilian coronavirus variant in the UK, three in England and three in Scotland, has reignited concerns that government-imposed border controls the UK are not tough enough. Your story is here.
Yvette cooper, the Labor chairman of the home affairs committee, was on the Today show this morning and said that ministers have been repeatedly told that the measures currently in place in England may be inappropriate. She made the same points in a Twitter thread last night along with the “I told you so” evidence.
Yvette cooper
(@YvetteCooperMP)The cases of the Brazil variant now in the UK came a month after I first raised this issue with the PM.
People were traveling on indirect flights, a problem that I also raised with PM that day.
When protecting the vaccine program is so important, why has the government taken so long to act? / 1 https://t.co/64TM724MOS
Yvette cooper
(@YvetteCooperMP)Delays in introducing measures such as hotel quarantine have made it easier for the Brazilian variants to spread across the UK.
But even now, 99% of arrivals are not covered by the hotel quarantine, as we heard this week.
And it is noteworthy that the tests carried out up to 72 hours before the flight did not detect these cases / 2 https://t.co/Aj8Lpo0U2u
Yvette cooper
(@YvetteCooperMP)“Three Scottish residents had flown to Northeast Scotland from Brazil via Paris and London”
I have repeatedly asked ministers why they not test travelers when they first arrive in the UK before they return home by public transport (tube / train / plane). Why do they refuse to do this? /3https://t.co/m2WsNWHgVC
On the Today show, he made an additional comment, saying the latest development illustrates why summer vacations abroad might not be possible this year. When asked if he thought the government would have to ban holiday flights during the summer, he replied:
You are right, there is a concern about whether the government is creating expectations about the summer holidays that they may not be able to fulfill, because this will depend on the relationship between the spread of these new variants and what happens with the vaccine, and the calendar about things as boosters for the vaccine.
And scientists have informed us in committee that these border measures, and the strength of these border measures, become even more important as domestic cases decline. So as our own cases drop and the economy and society open up, they argue that that’s when stronger measures are really needed at the border, rather than curtailed.
The problem is that right now the government is encouraging people to think that such a summer vacation will be possible and international travel will return.
In fairness to the government, the ministers have never said that summer vacation abroad will definitely be possible. Going on vacation abroad is currently against the law, and when asked, ministers say it is too early to say what will be allowed in the summer.
But when Boris Johnson published his roadmap to ease lockdown restrictions in England last Monday, he announced a revision of the rules for global travel that they will report by April 12, and the roadmap (pdf) said a Once the review was published, “the government will determine when international travel should resume, which will not be before May 17.” That caused an increase in vacation bookings abroad.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30 am: The ONS publishes its latest survey on Covid school infections for England.
10.30 am: Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, gives a speech on the economy.
12:00 h: Downing Street holds its daily briefing in the lobby.
12:15 pm: Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Prime Minister, conducts a briefing on the coronavirus.
12:15 pm: Jeane Freeman, Scottish Government Health Secretary, conducts a coronavirus briefing.
4 pm: David Cameron, the former prime minister, testifies to the joint committee on national security strategy.
17:00 h: Number 10 can hold a press conference.
Politics Live is now doubling down as the UK’s coronavirus live blog and given the way the Covid crisis overshadows everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will also cover political stories that do not belong to Covid, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here’s our global coronavirus live blog.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, put “Andrew” somewhere and you’re more likely to find it. I try to answer questions and if they are of general interest I will post the question and answer above the line (ATL), although I cannot promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m in @ AndrewGorrión.
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