No ordinary summer brings its dilemmas
JUST as the holiday period gets properly under way, it is fast becoming clear that this will be no ordinary summer.
A number of my constituents had recently been in touch to express exasperation over the length of time passport renewal was taking.
No sooner did HM Passport Office get its fast-track service up-and-running at the weekend, than the Foreign Office announced that
Britons returning from Spain would be required to quarantine for 14 days on arrival, dealing a hammer blow to many people’s holiday plans.
Data published this week has shown a rapid rise in cases in Spain and other popular European destinations, including France and Greece, after months of successful repression.
None of this of course means that you cannot travel, but it is becoming clear that doing so may incur a risk of facing a local lockdown or period of quarantine on return.
All of which is far from convenient, just as workplaces are reopening.
This is a stark reminder that the hard work and commitment that went on during lockdown is vulnerable.
Infection rates are currently low in this country (and very low in West Berkshire), but we must obviously do all we can to avoid a second spike with all the risk, stress and cost that that entails.
The Government recognises that 14-day quarantine periods are highly restrictive and is actively exploring shorter periods of restriction such as eight or 10 days followed by a test, so that those who wish can continue with their travel plans.
However, for anyone who is staying in West Berkshire this summer there are numerous pubs, cafés and restaurants now signed up to the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme – details of which can be accessed here: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/ eat-out-to-help-out/find-arestaurant/
The scheme entitles customers to 50 per cent off the price of any meal (up to a maximum of £10 per person).
Also a number of outdoor favourites – Beale Park, Basildon Park, Bucklebury Farm Park and the Living Rainforest to name just a few – have reopened for family days out.
And even The Watermill has found a way to put on outdoor performances from the end of the month.
This will not be the summer many of you had been planning and I appreciate that many of you will be agonising over whether to head abroad, but I hope that whatever you decide you will at least be able to enjoy some West Berkshire gems in new (or cheaper!) ways.