THE GREAT AUTUMN HOLIDAY STAMPEDE

Bookings surge as travel rules are ripped up ++ Hotspots come off red list ++ All PCR tests to end in weeks

Holiday bookings soared yesterday after punitive travel restrictions were finally lifted.

Within minutes of the official announcement, travel agents were deluged with inquiries and predicted this weekend would be their busiest of the year.

Demand for October half-term trips was three times higher than in August as firms slashed prices.

Turkey and the Maldives, both removed from the red list yesterday, were among the most sought after destinations. The traffic light system is also being replaced with a simpler ‘go/no-go’ regime with far less coronavirus testing.

The fully vaccinated will no longer have to pay for costly PCR swabs or

pre-return tests. Instead they will need to purchase only a cheaper lateral flow test within two days of returning, taking a free PCR swab if this is positive.

The shake-up means testing bills faced by families will be slashed by hundreds of pounds.

The only destinations that will remain off limits for the double jabbed are on the red list. All arrivals from these countries will still have to quarantine in hotels for 11 nights on arrival in England at a cost of £2,285, regardless of vaccination status.

The rule changes will apply to visiting foreigners jabbed with UK-recognised vaccines, meaning a boost to domestic businesses starved of tourist spending.

The new regime will be introduced in three steps, starting with eight countries being removed from the red list at 4am on Wednesday.

Pre-return tests will be scrapped for the double jabbed on October 4, when the new ‘go/no-go’ system will come into force. The traffic light system will remain until then. Costly PCR swabs will then be ditched for the fully vaccinated towards the end of October.

Ministers did not specify a date but said they were aiming to have this in place ‘for when people return from half-term breaks’. Another crucial change means passengers who transit through a red-list destination, having been in a safe country, will not be subjected to hotel quarantine.

The unvaccinated face even tougher rules under the new regime in a bid by ministers to encourage more people to get jabbed. Even when returning from countries on the ‘go’ list, they will have to isolate at home for ten days and take PCR tests on days two and eight.

They will still have the option of taking an extra post-arrival PCR test on the fifth day to be released from selfsolation early.

MPs and the travel industry welcomed the shake-up, having warned for weeks that failure to overhaul the system could lead to thousands more job losses. But some questioned why ministers were not scrapping PCR tests for the double jabbed for another month, and stepped up calls for all testing to be scrapped.

Alan French, chief executive of Thomas Cook, was among those reporting a bookings rush.

He said: ‘The news today is a shot in the arm for both the travel industry and families up and down the country who are crying out for some muchneeded late summer sun.

‘Based on our bookings already today, I would expect this weekend to be the biggest of the year so far.

‘Bookings for October half-term are up more than 200 per cent compared to August as people lock in great prices for beach breaks in their favourite Mediterranean sunspots.’

Package holiday giant Jet2.com also reported a bookings bonanza. Chief executive Steve Heapy said: ‘There has been an immediate and massive surge in bookings for flights and package holidays on the back of this welcome news for holidaymakers in England.’

The carrier will resume flights to Turkey from Thursday next week.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said: ‘By reducing the number of red-list destinations and scrapping PCR testing, ministers have paved the way for people to get away this October half-term and into the winter following 18 months of

‘Very welcome for businesses’

‘Locking in great prices’

uncertainty.’ John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow, added: ‘This simplification of the travel rules is very welcome for businesses and families across the country but the decision to require fully vaccinated passengers to take more costly private lateral flow tests is an unnecessary barrier to travel, which keeps the UK out of step with the rest of the EU.’

Travel firms were offering discounts of more than a third on holidays to traditional hotspots such as Spain, Greece and Portugal.

The shake-up will apply to England only, with Scotland last night saying it would not follow suit. Holyrood said it had ‘concerns at the impact on public health’ of the changes and would not be adopting them. Wales and Northern Ireland have not yet said whether they will fall in line.

In a further boost for families, the new regime will carry over the current rules on children. It means under-18s will be treated as though they are fully jabbed, even if they are not.

However, returning holidaymakers will still be required to fill in a passenger locator form before travelling back to England. They will need to prove they have ordered a day two lateral flow test and input their order number into the form. Free NHS lateral flow tests will not be available.

Announcing the move last night, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Today’s changes mean a simpler, more straightforward system.’

The swallows are still here. each year they arrive to nest in our garage and tractor shed; all summer we watch out for predatory magpies, until the fledglings are old enough to dive and swoop, ready for the long flight south.

They represent everything I most love about autumn: a state of anticipation, of readiness, of strength. We have a lot to learn from the tiny birds whose lives are defined by being forever on the wing.

The english poet and priest Gerard Manley hopkins praised autumn as ‘barbarous in beauty’ — and it’s always been my favourite time of year.

It meant back to school, crisp new exercise books, my birthday on October 8, fires lit, curtains drawn and the thrilling promise of Christmas. But this year I love it more than ever before — and completely understand why the swallow has always been in many cultures a symbol of hope, good fortune and new life. It also represented daring and success. All those qualities make it a fitting inspiration for us — in autumn 2021.

Why? Because I can’t help remembering this time last year and comparing the grim restrictions and fears we all endured with the freedoms of today.

In miserable autumn 2020, the Kent variant was surging, small businesses had their backs to the wall, old people were isolated from their families, and we all wondered (without much optimism) if there could ever be a vaccine to protect us from the plague. Christmas was facing cancellation and real terror of the virus stalked the land, breeding compliance.

‘With good reason,’ you might retort — and many would agree. But, listen — it’s not like that now. The other day I asked my husband: ‘how do you think of autumn?’ Cheerily he replied: ‘Oh, having a good time, chopping wood, making chutney, putting the garden to bed, getting ready for winter.’ I’m surprised he didn’t mention stocking up on wine and beer . . .

In essence, it’s all about making ready and facing up to what lies ahead, just like the swallows.

The morning mists are mysteriously beautiful, dew turns spider webs into exquisite designer necklaces, trees are slowly crinkling into russet and sulphuryellow — and even if you’re not a countrydweller you can experience such wonders in your local park.

AT WeeKeNdS now, people come from Bath and Bristol to pick blackberries in the lanes around our home. That free food represents the best kind of sharing — a generosity of nature which rarely lets us down.

August can be dreary (and certainly was this year) but September and October are golden, and the whiff of wood smoke on the air makes me nostalgic (in the best way) for all the autumns that have passed in this country I love so much. A week ago, our West Country village held the annual church fete, a tradition dating back many decades — associated with the fetes of the Virgin Mary. The sunny field was more crowded than I’ve seen in 11 years.

There were all the usual elements: cake stall, tombola, coconut shy, skittles, white elephant stall, dog show, female Morris dancers, archery, barbecued burgers and so on. Families wandered around clutching beer, cider, ice cream and Pimm’s, looking very, very happy. And that was the special, extra element. The powerful sense of a community delighted to be set free — and be OUT together.

It goes deep. For centuries autumn has been the time of country fairs. Up and down the land people gathered to celebrate the harvest and the apple crops. There were sheep and horse fairs, cider celebrations, cheese and onion fetes, and odd local customs like leading a white ox on to common land as a ceremonial ‘lord of the field’. The trees were heavy with nuts which had to be picked and stored for winter — and, because guys and gals will take any chance to frolic, ‘nutting’ became a euphemism for casual sex. Some things never change.

But from what I’m observing, the national mood has changed. don’t you feel it? This time last year I was addicted to BBC news; now it’s zapped off as soon as they start to intone the ‘latest Covid figures’. All my friends are the same. Any information needed is online, so you don’t have to subject yourself to BBC shroud-waving.

Instead we can rejoice that theatres, galleries, restaurants and bars are busy, that we can see who we want when we want, book holidays, and that the economy is bouncing back. But, of course, the ghouls are gathering, ready for hallowe’en tricks — like actively wishing the evil eye of a new lockdown on us all.

have you ever come across a more depressing, negative bunch of whingers and naysayers than the Government’s scientific advisers, laughingly known as Sage?

Their doomy ‘coulds’ and ‘mights’ are enough to make the most stalwart of us lose heart. They make me want to dress in black lace and set up a murky booth called ‘Gypsy Rose Bella’ at a village fete, to warn customers that they ‘might’ be going on a long journey, but be careful, because they ‘could’ have an accident . . . Just cross my palm with silver and I’ll gleefully tell you the worst.

This time last year the then health Secretary, hapless Matt hancock took time off from his secret ‘rule of two’ shenanigans to instruct us to obey the Rule

of Six. That instruction from a drifting Government forbade any gathering of more than six people, indoors or outdoors, with those who dared to meet in such groups facing fines, and all patrolled by puffed-up ‘Covid marshals’.

I wrote an angry piece in this newspaper saying: ‘No!’ That (somewhat controversial) article invoked the principle of government by consent, and stated that although I had certainly obeyed rules during the first part of lockdown, a line had been crossed for me. My judgement on the ‘rule of six’ was this: ‘It defies reason — because there appears to be astonishingly little evidence-based justification for the Government’s latest ruling. And it defies morality because any intelligent person can see that the current policy is a mix of bullying, panic and fear.’

True to my word, we had a glorious family Christmas, which was to be my father’s last on this earth. I’m glad I refused to value Hancock diktat above family love. My belief — shared by thousands of people — was that we should be able to assess our own risks, show resilience as well as due caution, and not have our lives ground down by the dire forecasts of Sage modellers who had been wrong more than once.

HOWEVER now, one year on, they’re at it again. Even though cases have flattened off, boffins are warning that hospital admissions could reach 2,000 to 7,000 in England next month — far surpassing the January peak of 4,300. But at that time only 2.2million English residents had been vaccinated, compared with more than 40 million now.

And what about the likely effect of booster jabs and vaccinating younger people?

There are so many factors the Sage committee seems to have ignored in their pessimistic modelling. Even if we become infected by the virus, the odds of being admitted to hospital have decreased enormously. Make no mistake, this autumn we are in a far better place than we were a year ago. Yet you wouldn’t think so.

The Sage document says: ‘With the current levels of high prevalence combined with unknown behaviours, the burden on health and care settings could rise very quickly.’

What are ‘unknown behaviours’? My crystal ball doesn’t tell me — and it cannot possibly tell them either. Maybe they mean people venturing out to enjoy themselves at a village fete. Or gathering to watch sport. Or going into an actual shop on the actual high street with a couple of mates to try on dresses and splurge on makeup. Getting a round in at the pub.

Normal behaviour, in other words — a return to the ordinary world people have been craving during all the long, tedious months of lockdowns and ‘tiers’ and the stupid, panic-inducing, wasteful ‘pingdemic.’

There are plenty of reasons to be hopeful this autumn — but only if we realise the tired old mantra ‘Stay Safe’ is meaningless and needs to be replaced by ‘Stay

Strong’. ‘Stay Safe’ contains no energy, no agency, no control; it implies a shrinking away because the bogeyman could or might get you. But ‘Stay Strong’ is the verbal equivalent (for me) of taking charge of your own wellbeing by making the choices and preparations you think right for yourself, your family and your neighbours.

This isn’t top-down instruction based on dodgy dossiers; this is individuals and communities knowing what feels right for them.

Of course the virus is still here — and perhaps it always will be. Of course nobody denies that anxious folk should remain cautious.

But the key is attitude: the business of making ready, facing up, and keeping on carrying on. Most of all, together we must accept the heart’s truth — that nobody is immortal. At this time of year we witness the eternal cycles of nature and recognise them in our own lives, too.

And that’s why I make a powerful connection between the mood of release I sense in today’s Britain and the feasts and festivities of traditional autumn — which were a culmination of local communities working and celebrating together. They said: ‘Yes, sure, winter is coming but we’re all ready for it so let’s mull the wine!’

Those in town and country who rejoiced that ‘All is safely gathered in/Ere the winter storms begin’ knew you just have to get on with life, and be ready for whatever it throws at you. They needed each other — just as we still do today.

But that essential human need is overlooked by Sage pundits and politicians who think they know better. It infected too many people with a strange compliance which sometimes felt far worse than the virus itself — threatening to set neighbour against neighbour in a nasty ‘snitching’ habit.

Oh, I grant you lockdowns have their own logic. So does imprisoning the princess in the tower so that no suitors can reach her. So does obsessively cleaning your house every day with the result that your kids build up no immunity to germs.

NO MORE! Now we have seen the effectiveness of jabs (and I have no time for selfish refuseniks) millions of us realise that sheltering from life is not living it. Living means claiming the right to hope, good fortune, new life, daring and success — just like those wonderful swallows. Which — after limbering up and putting on some weight in readiness — will soon leave.

It’s late afternoon slipping into early evening. Somewhere a blackbird is scolding an encroaching rival, and there’s a rich smell of soil and wood.

I try to follow the airy pathway of one swallow, looping and zig-zagging against the glorious blue September sky, but he’s too speedy for a mere human eye. Soon he will fly thousands of miles on those delicate wings — through western France, across the Pyrenees, down eastern Spain into Morocco and across the terrible Sahara, and all the way down to South Africa.

Migration is a hazardous time and many birds die from starvation, exhaustion and in storms.

But they still go. I see our swallows as free spirits, offering consolation to the housebound, the locked down, the fearful — and a glorious inspiration to those who want to emulate that innate, instinctive courage and fly, facing all risks. Because, really, there’s no choice. This is a good test of our mettle. You see, it’s possible to observe the swallows getting ready to fly south and feel sad that summer is over.

Or you can be glad you’re still here to watch them, knowing they’ll certainly come back next year. In the words of the poet Laurence Binyon (whose words always mark Remembrance Sunday): ‘Nothing is certain, only the certain Spring.’

I think now of where we were a year ago and know just as we have to accept the coming of the end of the year, so we have to learn to live with the virus and never let it defeat us.

We have proved this country can stand alone, develop a vaccine programme to be proud of, and get the majority of the population on side. So let’s shout to the sky that we will no longer be afraid — but get ready for the good times, with our glasses half full.