Ministers push Johnson for full closure of British borders
Ministers are trying to force Boris Johnson into closing Britain’s borders to foreigners amid a growing Cabinet row over how to prevent new variants of coronavirus spreading to the UK.
The option of banning all non-British travellers from entering the country was previously rejected by the prime minister, but is back on the agenda for a meeting of the Cabinet’s Covid operations committee to be chaired by Johnson within days.
Last night EU leaders met to consider allowing states to introduce travel bans on non-resident travellers from countries including the UK hit by the new Covid-19 strains, as well as negative predeparture tests and quarantine.
Whitehall insiders admitted ‘‘parts of Government are pushing the idea’’ again after worrying new data showed that infections rose in the second week of January despite the lockdown.
Other measures to be considered by the Covid-O committee include making UK arrivals wear a GPS tag to ensure they are not leaving their quarantine accommodation, and making all arrivals pay to stay in hotels for a 10-day period in isolation.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, are understood to back tougher restrictions similar to Australia and New Zealand, which have travel bans on non-residents and ‘‘managed isolation’’ of arrivals in approved accommodation.
However the Treasury, Department for Transport and Department for International Trade are said to be concerned at the potential damage from further restrictions to the aviation and travel industries and the wider economy.
Johnson warned of ‘‘a tough few weeks ahead’’ as he refused to rule out lockdown continuing until summer, saying ‘‘it’s too early to say when we’ll be able to lift some of the restrictions’’.
He said an Imperial College London survey published yesterday, which showed that infections had increased during the early part of the current lockdown, showed ‘‘there’s no doubt it does spread very fast indeed’’.
The Cabinet agenda, drawn up by the Covid-19 Secretariat, includes banning foreign travellers from entering the UK, with limited exceptions such as hauliers.
But a source said: ‘‘The danger is that it would stay in place for the longer term as more variants emerge which could cause extensive economic damage.’’