I’m hoping to holiday in Devon – but it’s uncertain, says Sir Keir

LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer said he has planned a summer holiday to Devon, but admitted he is not sure if it will go ahead.

Confusion remains over whether UK citizens should be booking holidays this summer amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it was too early for anyone to book a holiday – foreign or domestic.

He said holidays would not be allowed until everyone has been vaccinated, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson also urging caution.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock has already said that his summer holiday – a break in Cornwall – has been booked.

Sir Keir has also booked a summer break, in Devon, but said the “mixed messages” from the Government have made it difficult for people to book holidays.

“It’s very difficult to predict what’s going to happen later in the year,” he told reporters on a visit to Heathrow Airport.

“We’ve got a holding of a holiday in August in the UK, but we are going to have to see. It’s subject to the restrictions and that’s the best anybody can do.”

He acknowledged it was “really difficult” for ministers to know what will happen over the coming months.

“I’m not going to stand here and criticise the Government for being unable to say with precision what’s going to happen in August, I don’t think that’s fair.

“What I do think they should avoid is mixed messages – so don’t say, one day, through the Prime Minister, ‘it will all be fine’ and through the Transport Secretary say ‘don’t book a holiday’.

“People understand this is difficult. They actually understand it is difficult for the Government, and they know the Government can’t say with certainty what’s going to happen – but just caution, and get rid of the mixed messages.”