SharenocloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingPeople wishing to travel out of the UK will first be required to declare their reason for travel, the home secretary has said.Priti Patel told MPs that people would have to prove their journey complied with stay-at-home regulations, which would be checked by carriers.She said there would be an increased police presence at airports and ports, and fines for those breaching rules.But Labour described the measures as “too little, too late”.Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said protecting the UK’s borders was one of the key areas where the government had “fallen short” and he was “deeply concerned” the latest measures were “yet another example of this – too little, too late”.He added Ms Patel’s proposals to limit hotel quarantine to the specific “red list” countries did “not not go anywhere near far enough”, adding the measures left “huge gaps” in the UK’s defences against emerging variants of the virus.In a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Ms Patel said England’s lockdown rules were “clear [that] people should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to leave. Going on holiday is not a valid reason.”Live: Latest updates on coronavirus in the UK and elsewhereWhat are the UK travel rules?How worrying are the new coronavirus variants?She said the new rule would require people wishing to leave the UK to go abroad to first “make a declaration for why they need to travel”, which would then be “checked by carriers prior to departure”.Ms Patel said: “Anyone who doesn’t not have a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home or they will face a fine.”She added it was “clear that there are too many people coming in and out of our country each day” and other border measures would be toughened up to “reduce passenger flow” and protect the UK’s “world-leading” vaccination programme.She said police would increase checks at home addresses to ensure arrivals were complying with self-isolation rules and the UK would continue to refuse entry non-UK citizens from “red list” countries which were already subject to the travel ban.The list of travel exemptions would also be “urgently” reviewed, she added, to make sure “only the most important and with exceptional reasons are included”.Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that UK nationals and residents returning from coronavirus hotspots would have to quarantine in government-provided hotels.The measures will apply to people coming from most of South America, southern Africa and Portugal, amid concern over new variants of the virus. Most overseas visitors from those countries are already barred from entering the UK. British nationals and those with residency rights who arrive from high-risk countries will be required to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense for up to 10 days, in a bid to improve compliance with self-isolation rules. Mr Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday that arrivals who could not be refused entry would be required to isolate in government provided accommodation, such as hotels, “without exception”.These arrivals would be met at the airport and “transported directly into quarantine”, with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) working to set up these facilities “as quickly as possible”, he said.Ms Patel said the DHSC would “set out further details” on the hotel quarantine policy next week.But Labour said hotel quarantine should be mandatory for all arrivals. Covid hotel quarantine: ‘It’s the luck of the draw’image copyrightKeri McmenaminKeri McMenamin was returning to the country with her husband and two children after securing a job offer – leaving the UK in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic last year.”It is literally luck of the draw,” the 38-year-old said after securing her family’s place in Australia’s 14-day quarantine system. “You didn’t know what to expect.” Having done some research, Keri discovered Facebook groups busy with people relaying their experiences of quarantine.”A lot of people were saying, ‘Look, just expect the worst and then whatever you get is a bonus.'”In the end, the family was given an interconnecting room. But the windows were sealed and their time outside limited to 20-minute stints every two to three days.Read more about life in a quarantine hotelIan Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, told the Commons that the Scottish and Welsh governments wanted “to go further” than what the UK government was proposing on quarantine measures, and challenged the PM to “stop his half measures” and bring in “stricter enforcement on international travel”.A spokesman for the Welsh government said “the need for a joint approach” to border measures had been agreed between the UK’s four nations and the Republic of Ireland, but it did not believe the approach outlined by the UK government went “far enough”.”Further discussions on the details of the proposals will take place as soon as possible,” he added.Senior ministers met on Tuesday night to approve the plan, following days of disagreement over the details. They also agreed that if other areas were designated as high risk in the future, then the requirement for hotel quarantine would be extended. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had argued for a targeted approach to quarantine, while the home secretary had favoured its more widespread use, according to BBC political correspondent Iain Watson. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for tougher measures to combat the spread of new variants from abroad. He told reporters on Tuesday: “It’s very clear that we need to have quarantine comprehensively in hotels for everybody coming into the country, we need much stronger defences at our borders.”In response to the government’s announcement, Airport Operators Association chief executive Karen Dee said it was “welcome” the new hotel quarantine policy would only apply to a limited number of countries, but questioned what “additional public health benefit” it would have, given strict travel rules were recently introduced.She called on the government to set out “when and how we can ease all these measures safely and provide people with reassurance that travel will be possible again in the future”.At the moment, incoming travellers have to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test on departure, taken in the previous 72 hours. Then they still have to quarantine for up to 10 days, although this can be done at home.Those who do not comply will face a fine of £500, with Border Force officials carrying out spot checks. In England, the self-isolation period can be cut short with a second negative test after five days. Quarantine rules are set separately in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but have tended to differ only slightly.Hotel quarantine is already in use in countries including New Zealand and Australia. QUARANTINE: What are the UK travel rules?TESTING: How do I get a virus test?SYMPTOMS: What are they and how to guard against them?LOOK-UP TOOL: How many cases in your area?DOCTOR CHATTERJEE: With another lockdown in place, how can we manage our health and wellbeing without feeling overwhelmed?I’M NOT A MONSTER: An American mother living in the ISIS caliphate, and all is not as it seems. Where does her account end and the truth begin?Are you a UK national in one of the countries affected? Will this mean you’ll be forced to quarantine in a hotel? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSayUpload pictures or videoPlease read our terms & conditions and privacy policy
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