Reason to cap test cost ‘morally and ethically justifiable’

companies failing to deliver tests on time and guilty of making hugely misleading price claims?” he wrote.

He was backed by Huw Merriman, chairman of the transport select committee, who published a letter to Mr Javid in which he urged the Government to give “serious consideration” to more “affordable” tests and rethink the need for PCR tests for passengers from green and amber countries.

“The high cost, poor quality and lack of sequencing from PCR tests needs to be urgently addressed by the Government.

They are an unnecessary barrier to affordable international travel,” he said. Mr Javid has opened the door to a shake-up of the testing market, after his spokesman confirmed the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will provide him with “actions that can be taken now” to combat “excessive pricing or misleading claims” by firms.

However, in a letter to Mr Javid, the CMA said it will not report its findings until next month, after the summer.

Former Cabinet minister David Davis said it would be “perfectly sensible” to cap test costs to prevent profiteering and scrap the 20 per cent VAT charge on PCR tests, which the Government say are needed to prevent the import of variants. “These tests are in the public interest, not the individual interest. There’s an entirely logical, morally and ethically justifiable reason for controlling the cost and for the state to make a contribution,” he said.

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee, said: “Analysis of test results shows fewer positive test results than in the general population. If the Government is mandating so many tests, then it should also require providers to offer them at a reasonable cost.”

Simon Jupp, a Conservative member of the transport committee, said: “Capping the cost of tests must be the way forward. I’m glad the Health Secretary is demanding a rapid audit of companies providing tests at astronomical prices. The rip-off merchants must be stopped.”

Paul Maynard, a former aviation minister, said: “Families should not have to pay more for tests than flights. The Government needs to get the CMA to respond urgently so that families have a better chance of good value options.”

Fewer than one in 50 travellers from red or amber countries are testing positive for Covid, while only one in 20 of those are being genome sequenced for variants because the presence of Covid in the samples is “vanishingly small” after being suppressed by the vaccine.

The Government confirmed that double-jabbed people in England will be able to avoid self-isolation if “pinged” from Monday. Instead they will be urged to take a PCR test, limit contact with others and wear a face mask in enclosed spaces. These steps will be only advisory, not required by law.