Common sense may prevail at last – but we need to go further

The Government looks set to abandon its green and amber lists, but Nick Trend says the reforms don’t go far enough

Reports this week suggest that – finally – common sense may prevail and we will see a reform of the traffic light system next month. The likelihood is that green and amber zones will be abolished, but red – which requires passengers landing in the UK to spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel – will be retained.

The change would be an acknowledgement that, for fully vaccinated travellers, there is no practical difference between visiting an amber or a green destination. In both cases, UK rules require you to take a test a maximum of 72 hours before you come back to Britain, and a test on day two of your return. It’s not clear how a reformed system might apply to the unvaccinated – presumably, self-isolation rules would apply to all destinations not in the red zone. But for those who are doublevaxxed, a two-tier system would put an end to some of the uncertainty that has dogged holidaymakers and the travel industry this summer.

It has not just been the sudden changes of traffic light status among popular destinations that have caused consternation, though these have been highly disruptive. (At one point, Portugal shifted to amber barely three weeks after being designated green.) The changes have been exacerbated by the short notice given – usually three or four days – and the unpredictable timing of the three-weekly announcements. These have been made at different times, on different days and in different ways since May.

Adding to this uncertainty has been the confusion caused by continual tweaks to the system and – in the early weeks – the conflict between the traffic light categories of the Department for Transport (DfT) and the advice published by the Foreign Office (FCDO). The FCDO appeared to be using different criteria to the DfT and, when it advised against “all but essential travel”, operators were forced to cancel even if a destination was rated amber by the DfT. Holidaymakers who wanted to go anyway found it hard to get insurance.

Tweaks to the DfT system caused more confusion. First a green watch list was added to the red, green and amber categories. This was supposedly to warn of destinations in danger of going amber. In practice it was far too nuanced a concept to be useful when infection rates and the spread of variants were shifting so rapidly.

Then came a flirtation with a fifth category – “amber plus” – which required self-isolation for 10 days, even if fully vaccinated. It was an ill-conceived idea imposed on people returning from France, and it seems to have been based on flawed data about the beta (South African) variant. The application to France was quickly withdrawn, though too late to avoid ruining many thousands of holiday plans, including mine.

We probably have to reconcile ourselves to some restrictions for the foreseeable future because of the risk of importing new variants. Simplifying into just green and red tiers would be a step forward, but we also need four other key reforms if the new system is going to rebuild confidence in travel.

1. Consistency in when and how announcements are made. This would allow holidaymakers and the industry the fixed points of reference which have been so sorely missed this summer.

2. More notice to allow holidaymakers to return. Limiting this to three or four days puts pressure on the industry and is stressful for holidaymakers.

3. A formal harmonisation between FCDO and DfT advice.

4. More transparency about the data, so we know exactly why destinations are being rated red.

All change: at one point Portugal shifted to amber barely three weeks after being designated green