• August 3, 2021

Ministers abandon plans to add new “amber watchlist”: Review meeting to be held on Thursday

Ministers abandon plans to add new “amber watchlist”: Review meeting to be held on Thursday

LONDON Aug 3: Ministers have abandoned plans to add a new “amber watchlist” category to the UK’s Covid travel rules, after Boris Johnson said the traffic light system should stay “as simple as possible”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to keep travel rules as simple as possible on Monday and ministers are due to carry out a review meeting on Thursday.

The Government had been considering the new category for nations at risk of being moved into the red group which requires hotel quarantine for 10 days at a cost of £1,750 for an adult.

But following a backlash by Tory MPs, ministerial concerns and complaints from the travel industry, Government sources confirmed there would be “no amber watchlist”.

The confirmation came after Mr Johnson said “a balanced approach” was necessary, adding: “What I want to see is something that is as simple and as user-friendly for people as possible.”

The Prime Minister said the success of the vaccination campaign meant the British economy was “just about the most open in Europe” but there was a balance to be struck on travel because of the risk of importing new coronavirus variants.

“We also have to recognise that people want, badly, to go on their summer holidays, we need to get the travel industry moving again, we need to get our city centres open again and so we want an approach that is as simple as we can possibly make it.”

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