Make PCR swabs free to ease travel expense burden, demand MPS

PCR swabs must be made free to avoid holidaymakers being ripped off, says the head of the backbench Tory group, as test firms started to raise prices.

Ministers faced a backlash from Tory MPS and the travel industry over the requirement for all passengers arriving in the UK from 4am today to take a test on or before day two and quarantine until they get a negative result.

Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, said ministers should intervene to underwrite the costs and prevent a repeat of the ripoffs, delays and scams that plagued PCR testing in the summer.

“To maintain these restrictions for what I hope will be a very brief period, the Government should at least ensure that the PCR tests that are required for returning passengers are provided at no extra cost to the passenger,” he said.

His comments came as the average cost of a single PCR swab jumped 5 per cent within hours of the news of the testing regime, which allows scientists to track the new omicron variant.

Prices rose from an average of £79 to £83 among more than 450 test providers on the Government’s website. For a family of five, this would add more than £400 to the cost of a trip abroad. It compares with rapid lateral flow tests which are typically between £20 and £25, adding up to £125.

It comes on top of the disclosure that thousands of travellers to Britain who ordered day two lateral flow tests in line with the previous rules will not get their money back.

“All self-test kits are non-refundable from the point of booking due to immediate dispatch and the medical nature of the product,” said provider Collinson.

Henry Smith, Tory chairman of the all party Future of Aviation group, said that “ideally” the Government should ensure PCR tests were free but at the very least, “their costs should be capped to the same rate as lateral flow tests. That would help.”

Willie Walsh, the boss of IATA, representing airlines internationally, said the reintroduction of tighter quarantine and testing regulations was a “kneejerk decision” that imposes “huge hardship” on travellers.

Tim Alderslade, Airlines UK chief, said the decision left travellers in the invidious position of having less than 48 hours to arrange extra testing while overseas: “Many will struggle to do so, which is why support from the Government would be an appropriate gesture.”