,
Shadow Home Secretary, has branded Conservative Covid border
policy “weak and dangerous, putting our hopes for freedom at
risk” as new statistics reveal over 12 million people have flown
in to the U.K. since the start of the March 2020 lockdown and
1.59 million between January and April this year, when
international travel was supposed to be tightly restricted.
The data also shows despite Home Office claims that “typically,
around half of air passenger arrivals in the UK are British
nationals”, in fact around two thirds of arrivals in 2021 were
non-UK nationals.
Commenting, ,
said:
“The Conservatives’ border protections against Covid are weak and
dangerous, putting our hopes for freedom at risk.
“Time and time again, the U.K. Government promised strong border
measures, but the truth is now out - millions of people have been
flying in to the U.K. with only a tiny percentage going into
hotel quarantine.
“It’s beyond reckless that so many people arrived during the
third lockdown when international travel was supposed to be
tightly restricted. No wonder we have had so many variant
outbreaks, with Conservative chaos on border protections.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
- Between 23 March 2020, when the first national lockdown was
imposed, and April 2021 over 12,807,900 people entered the
country by air.
- Between 6 January 2021, when the third national lockdown came
into effect, and the end of April 2021 alone 1,591,900 people
entered the country by air.
Source: Home Office Statistics, published 27 May, May: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-relating-to-passenger-arrivals-since-the-covid-19-outbreak-may-2021
