End testing rip-off

WHeN will the Government put a stop to the great Covid test racket?

Despite being spared having to go into self-isolation on their return from amberlist countries, even fully vaccinated passengers are still being fleeced for one or two grossly expensive PCR tests.

In almost every area of domestic life cheaper lateral flow tests are sufficient.

But for those coming back from abroad only PCR tests are accepted.

For a family of four, this can easily add £500 to the cost of their holiday – not to

mention a world of inconvenience and confusion. Travellers are also at the mercy of a legion of private providers, some of whom are clearly profiteering.

The average cost for two tests is about £128, but even on the Government’s

approved list some firms have been charging £400 and more. And what exactly is the point?

Ministers seek to justify their insistence on PCR tests on the basis that only they

provide the gene-sequencing necessary to identify new or troubling variants.

But it was revealed yesterday that only a paltry 5 per cent of tests are actually sent for analysis, completely blowing that argument out of the water.

It’s surely time for a radical rethink of what Commons transport committee chairman Huw Merriman describes as ‘an unnecessary rip-off’ that creates ‘a barrier to affordable travel’.

If the Government is serious about reviving the desperate travel industry, it should make lateral flow tests the norm – for the double-jabbed at least. And if they insist on keeping PCR tests for younger travellers who are unvaccinated, the cost should be capped and made VAT-free.

Boris Johnson accepted the rules needed to be simplified. Mercifully, he scrapped the ludicrous amber-plus list and averted the looming chaos of ‘amber watch’.

But he needs to finish the job. Having led the world in vaccinations, we are in danger of squandering our advantage through excessive caution.

France is among a number of european countries now allowing fully vaccinated arrivals to enter their country without proof of a negative test of any sort.

If we are ever to reopen the doors to international travel, we must ultimately do the same.