India coronavirus spread inevitable

IN order to establish how and why the Indian coronavirus variant has entered the UK, it is worth establishing a timeline.

March 22: BBC reports sharp rise in Covid 19 cases in India is “alarming”.

March 25: BBC reports “Double mutant” variant found in India.

April 2: Bangladesh and Pakistan are put on the travel red list; India is not, despite having a higher incidence than the other two countries.

April 18: Labour urges that India be put on the red list. Environment Secretary George Eustace says: “Public health does come first but that doesn’t mean there should be no visits at all for business purposes.”

April 19: Boris Johnson cancels his trip to India scheduled to leave on April 23. India is put on the red list, but only from 4am on April 23.

April 19-23: Thousands arrive back from India so as not to incur the cost of hotel quarantine. No one is prevented from using public transport.

As a desperate compensation for the hard and economically detrimental Brexit deal, trade deals or even the mirage of trade deals, have become of the utmost importance for this Government. It is transparently obvious that India was not put on the red list because of Boris Johnson’s proposed visit, which was billed as key to an “Enhanced Trade Partnership”. The tragic result, once more, is that this dangerous three-week delay has put at risk the lives of British citizens.

MIKE BALDWIN