The Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Thomas Symonds MP, in a letter to
the Home Secretary, has today called for urgent answers to better
understand what risk the British public has been placed under, as
a result of the failed quarantine system, which has allowed the
Brazilian strain to reach the UK.
,
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said:
“This is unforgivable incompetence from the UK Government.
Despite being warned time and time again, they have failed to act
to protect our borders against emerging Covid variants and could
put at risk the gains from the vaccine.
“People will be appalled to hear someone with the Brazilian
variant cannot be identified, raising questions about how many
others may have been missed by quarantine measures. There is no
excuse for continuing to ignore Labour’s call for a comprehensive
hotel quarantine system.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
Letter to Priti
Dear Priti,
I write to implore you - once again - to take stricter measures
at our border against the threat of importing new Covid variants,
in light of the discovery in the UK of the P.1 variant, first
identified in Brazil.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that the UK has the
“toughest border measures” anywhere in the world. This is clearly
not the case: protections are failing and people in the UK are
being put at risk.
This failing could have put lives at risk, while also risking
undermining the progress and hope generated by the vaccine
rollout.
The Vaccines Minister told the media on 1 March that the
passengers who reached the UK with the P.1 variant arrived on 10
February. This is over a month-and-a-half after the P.1 variant
was first identified in the U.K.
The fact that there are six cases of this variant of the virus
identified in communities is also a major concern. It shows how
deeply irresponsible it was for the Government to be so slow to
put in place limited hotel quarantine measures.
It has also been reported that three travellers with this strain
took a further internal UK flight from Heathrow to Aberdeen. This
will have put at further risk other passengers and may have
enabled the wider spread of the variant, especially as other
passengers on the flight would not even be subject to home
quarantine restrictions.
It is deeply concerning that officials are searching for a
traveller who has tested positive for the variant, because, as
the Vaccines Minister said: “There is one case where the
individual didn't fill in their test card details so we can
contact them.” It is deeply worrying that the system in place
allowed this to happen.
The news of the Brazilian strain reaching the U.K. shows the
damage done by the delay to the introduction of hotel quarantine.
We also know that even now just 1 per cent of UK arrivals are
having to going into hotel quarantine.
This means that thousands of travellers are entering the country
and are not required to enter hotel quarantine. It is now vital
to accept that these half-baked measures are not enough and to
introduce a comprehensive hotel quarantine system without further
delay.
I also have a number of key questions I would be grateful if you
could answer without delay:
- How many other passengers have failed to fill in their test
registration card details?
- Can you confirm that travellers with the variant travelled
through London on an internal flight? What measures are being
taken to identify any possibility of onward transmission to
airport staff and surrounding communities?
- What measures have been taken to contact all of the people on
the connecting flights?
- Can you provide the data discussed at the recent Home Affairs
Select Committee session where it emerged that just 1% of UK
arrivals are submitting to hotel quarantine?
- Countries including Germany, Faroe Islands, Italy, Japan,
Republic of Korea and United States of America have also had
cases of the P1 variant, but are not on the UK ‘red list’. Why
has the ‘red list’ not even been extended to cover these
countries?
- Two of the individuals, now identified in South
Gloucestershire, returned to London Heathrow from Sau Paulo via
Zurich, therefore, navigating around the ‘travel ban’ that
existed on the 10 February. Can you outline how many individuals
have entered the U.K from the 33 ‘red list’ countries via
indirect flights?
Not having a comprehensive hotel quarantine policy means that
there is a very serious risk of other variants reaching our
shores.
I hope you will reflect on this, think again, and act to put one
in place.
Yours sincerely,
Shadow Home Secretary
