“Valid reason” required for travel

… or face fines

Thanks to Jaime for a link to the Telegraph reporting that anyone departing from the UK will be required to declare a valid reason for travelling, as the Government yesterday confirmed tighter border restrictions – including ‘quarantine hotels’ for arrivals from selected countries.

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon, Home Secretary Priti Patel said that it “is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day,” and set out new measures to “reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so.”

Transport providers will check passengers’ reasons for travel on departure and police presence will be increased at ports and airports – it is understood that people will be instructed to return home if they do not have a valid reason  – and may face a fine. Patel added that police will carry out more checks at physical addresses, to ensure compliance with the restrictions.

New ‘quarantine hotels’ will also facilitate travellers arriving in the UK being forced to self-isolate in these hotels. The rule will apply to those returning from 30 high-risk countries, including Brazil, South Africa and Portugal, where international travel bans have already been imposed. “H” kindly listed these in a Comment to a post a couple of days ago.

“They will be required to isolate for 10 days, without exemption, and the Department of Health will set out further details,” Patel said. Details of the plan are expected to be announced next week.

“Despite the stay-at-home regulations, we are still seeing people not complying with these rules. The rules are clear – people should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to leave.” 

“Leaving the country without a valid reason is to become illegal”

The Times reports that “leaving the country without good reason is to become illegal”, according to home secretary Priti Patel yesterday. She specifically criticised social media “Influencers” for “showing off in sunny parts of the world” and said travellers would be required to fill out a declaration explaining why they are flying, which will be checked by airlines.

Only “essential” travel with a valid reason will be allowed, and police will issue fines at borders. The government is reviewing the list of travel exemptions – valid reasons – to ensure people are not abusing the system.

The Times believes Ms Patel had privately advocated a temporary full closure of borders, followed by the introduction of hotel quarantine for all entering the UK, but the idea was rejected by the prime minister.

Ministers believe quarantine hotels will be ready by the end of next week. A Whitehall source said that only a small number of Britons returning from overseas would be affected. “We’re talking in the hundreds,” the source said.

Ms Patel criticised the large number of people still going abroad on holiday, including social media “influencers” enjoying winter sun and skiers in the Alps. Celebrities such as Chloe Ferry, who stars in the reality TV show Geordie Shore, have been travelling to luxury hotels in Dubai and elsewhere and posing at the beach.

“People should simply not be travelling,” Ms Patel told the Commons. “We see the examples; I will call some of them out. Border Force have given me some examples where even at St Pancras people have been turning up with their skis. That is clearly not acceptable.

The Daily Mail has a few examples of these “influencers” opposite:

COVID-19 in Madeira: daily updates can be found on an earlier post.