Watchlists led the traffic light system to blow a fuse

Over-complicated border policy created weekend of turmoil and stoked the backlash among Tory MPS

WHEN Boris Johnson read about the travel rules chaos on Monday it was not hard to follow the breadcrumbs to the source of the controversy.

The critical decision that had sent Tory backbenchers and travel industry leaders into a tailspin had been taken the preceding Wednesday, behind closed doors, by senior ministers.

It had been championed, according to multiple government sources, by one politician above all others: Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary.

The idea was to announce a new “amber watchlist”, to slot into the green-amber-red traffic light system. Green means no quarantine on return for travellers, only a test. Amber is the same for the double-jabbed. But red equals 10 days in hotel quarantine, costing £1,750 per adult.

The policy, in theory at least, had merit. It was unfair, felt those pushing it, for people visiting amber countries to suddenly see their status change. Why not put some countries at risk of being reclassified as red on a new “amber watchlist”, so that travellers had warning that things could change?

There already was something similar being used privately by officials and ministers, pinned to the latest Covid information for each nation provided by the Joint Biosecurity Centre.

And so, when Covid-o met on Wednesday to discuss changes, Mr Shapps put forward his argument.

“This was Grant’s thing,” said one source. “Grant had been pushing it for a while,” said another. Travel Department officials had even submitted formal papers making the case. Mr Shapps is said to have seen the policy as a genuine way of easing travel woes. Indeed, not all of those on the video call were against the proposal. One influential figure spoke up in its favour, said Government sources: Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary.

Mr Javid, who only recently returned to Government after Matt Hancock’s resignation in light of revelations of an affair with an aide, has been characterised as at the “lift the rules” end of the spectrum when it comes to lockdowns.

A former chancellor, he championed the need to protect businesses and workers from the economic slump triggered by the pandemic. Mr Shapps and Mr Javid were in agreement. “It is about trying to give the clearest information possible,” said one person familiar with the Health Secretary’s thinking at the time.

The problem was, in the eyes of critics, clarity was exactly the opposite of what was being offered up to the public.

What started as a green-amber-red system had now ballooned into one with no fewer than six categories.

Beyond the three colours there was already a “green watchlist” for countries at risk of turning amber and an “amber plus” list, created just for France and announced late one Friday night, which made even the double-jabbed quarantine on return. The amber watchlist would be the sixth. The reaction was not the thumbs up that ministers had been expecting.

Tory MPS bombarded Mr Shapps with calls. Some with personal interests – they too wanted trips to the Continent – and others frustrated for constituents.

“This is genuinely vote-losing stuff. People are genuinely p----- off with this” said one Tory MP. “There’s no way in the middle of August you can say to millions of people who are disproportionately Tory voting ‘I’m going to cut your holiday off ’.” The nub of the criticism was that, far from freeing families of stress about an imminent reclassification, the amber watchlist exacerbated the anxiety. It put in lights a list of countries which, at any moment, could switch to red, and bring 10 days’ hotel quarantine, without any additional notice.

What should families with August holidays booked in France, Greece or Spain – said to be contenders for the new list – do with the new information?

The fear from the travel industry was clear: Mass cancellations. Hence a wave of criticism that soon emanated from leading industry figures. The backlash escalated over the weekend when it was revealed that Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, had written to Mr Johnson urging an easing of the border rules.

Mr Sunak, according to the leak, had warned that the UK risked becoming “out of step with our international competitors” when it came to border policy.

It later emerged the letter had been written before a major rule change saw Americans and Europeans jabbed at home able to visit without quarantining. But it turned up the scrutiny and triggered a mole hunt in Westminster.

Downing Street was at pains to play down a No10-no11 rift. “There is not a wafer between them,” said a Whitehall source who sees the Sunak-johnson relationship up close. By lunchtime on Monday, the amber watchlist was dead.

One senior Government source explained: “We have to have a proper border policy in place. But we want to do everything we can to make sure people can have a great summer holiday.”

That position has lasted out the amber watchlist row. But with grumblings over the entire traffic light system, the cost of PCR tests and the question of which new countries join the green list, it is a line sure to be tested again this summer.

‘There’s no way, in the middle of August, you can say to people “I’m going to cut your holiday off”’