Quarantine is a blow to the UK’S reputation
Whatever happened to Global Britain? We were meant to be using the opportunity of Brexit to turn the UK into the most outward-looking nation in the world. Instead, we are pulling up the drawbridge. The confirmation from Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, that the Government will impose a 14-day quarantine on arrivals to the UK is not just a disaster for the domestic tourism industry, the airlines, and the millions of jobs they support, but a blow to our international reputation. Other countries are throwing open their doors to foreign visitors. Greece has pledged to “welcome the world”. Italians say that reopening monuments, museums, and hotels will give the nation hope that the future will be brighter.
There is little hope on offer from ministers here. There is no obvious rationale for dissuading arrivals from countries with lower levels of infection and rates of transmission than the UK, especially those that appear to meet the criteria the Home Secretary set out yesterday for the rules to be relaxed. The policy has even been criticised by former prime minister Theresa May, a politician not known for making rash judgments. Has the Government decided that it is necessary just because it appears to be popular, the worst sort of policy-making by focus group? Or does it reflect a lack of confidence in the UK’S test-and-trace system, which is designed to crush new outbreaks?
At the very least, the policy suggests an administration that is over reliant on cumbersome tactical moves rather than one with a coherent strategy on coronavirus. Quarantine rules will be reviewed on June 28, and there is an expectation that they will be relaxed if travel corridors can be negotiated with other countries. Why, then, are we going to so much trouble for a policy that may remain intact for just a few weeks?
If the UK signals to the world that visitors are not welcome, the world will begin to look elsewhere. There is no certainty that tourists, business travellers and others, including international students, will want to return in large numbers once this crisis has passed. They bring billions of pounds into the economy. But we get billions more thanks to our status as an open trading nation with predictable rules, transparent governance and excellent travel links. The Government has failed to provide a sufficiently robust justification for putting all that in jeopardy.