Possible UK border closures / further travel restrictions – 4 QUESTIONS

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 62 total)

  • MartynSinclair
    Participant

    News feeds are alive with suggestions of UK border closures / possible further travel restrictions. Notwithstanding that most of us are commercial / leisure travellers and not medics or scientists, how would you feel about further and tighter restrictions on our ability to travel and in some cases ability to work? I was quite surprised with the news pictures of the arrival halls at Heathrow this week with the Q’s of people waiting to be processed. Are UK borders still a soft touch? During December, Government agencies were IMO complicit in passengers breaching the Government rules on travel. The rules were (and still are) very clear, tier 4 residents, should not leave home except for one of several reasons. Going on holiday was not a valid reason. Yet passengers clearly going on holiday were being accepted for flights unchallenged, whilst breaking the Governments own rules. Border Force/airlines and airport security, quite clearly were Ok with these breaches (or it could have been a case of (NOT MY PROBLEM GUV)..

    Most of us are agreed video conferencing does eliminate some of the challenges, but travel is in the HEARTS of us all and given the choice, most of us would still jump on an aeroplane and travel to near and far-flung places whether for business or leisure, when we are allowed. I am interesting to hear views on the current 4 questions:

    1. Should our borders be closed or heavily restricted for passenger traffic (not cargo)?

    2. With so many empty hotels around our international airports, should self-isolation be moved up a notch into Asia / Australia style quarantine, with stricter enforcement? At least it may provide some business for the beleaguered hotel industry?

    3. Holidays – should people be booking holidays with the expectation they MUST go at all costs?

    4. Now the controversial question – would you travel under the definition of medical treatment to get a UK approved vaccine privately, overseas?

    My answers

    1. Yes – on the basis the it is being suggested the current lock down is not working

    2. Yes – on the basis that self isolation rules in the UK are not being taken seriously. At least stricter enforcement will allow UK to compare the effectiveness of 11 months of open borders and unregulated self isolation to a stricter model

    3. I booked in November to go to a wedding in Israel in October 2021. Flights and hotels are all cancellable within 24 hours of departure. At the time I was 90% sure i would be going, now probably only 20% sure. It would not concern me if I had to cancel.

    4. Private vaccine – I will admit that if I could get a private vaccine overseas for a UK approved vaccine, I would be very tempted if it were to enable me to travel freely for work, without the need to quarantine (especially in Asia). However, having an approved vaccine protection for Covid 19, does not appear to provide any benefits for foreign travel, at the moment. So I am happy to wait in the UK for my turn on the NHS. I will add that I hope private vaccines are NOT made available in the UK, until all UK residents have had the opportunity to be jabbed.

    Have a great weekend everyone, stay safe and here’s hoping for an SWFC win at Goodison Park on Sunday, (some hope)….


    canucklad
    Participant

    1) Yes– All borders (air space akin 9/11 ) should have closed (agreed timescales) for 6 weeks at the beginning of this –Is it too late to do this now, I wonder !
    2) Yes — Absolutely, we used too, still do put our pets into managed quarantine on the off chance they’ve caught rabies –Go figure the disparity ? I’ll add , hotel staff should be trained / certified to administer tests etc
    3) Yes — Purely from a mental health perspective , we need to have hope. Alas every time you hear from our Covid controllers they continually dampen our spirits – The news surrounding the Olympics and closer to home Glastonbury is in one word ……”Depressing”
    4) No — The one thing we don’t need is an opportunity for profiteering and diversion from the main aim. My heart grows heavy though, as , and can only talk about here in Scotland the vaccine roll out is likely to be driven by political dogma rather than seeing the bigger picture .

    Great questions, and good luck to SWFC , c’mon the Owl’s ,you’ll need it !!


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Yes this is a good thread Martyn.

    A couple of days ago I started a thread about The Netherlands poised to cancel long-haul flights effective today.

    However mystery surrounds this development and the KLM website continues to accept bookings (I checked AMS-SIN) as normal.


    canucklad
    Participant

    [quote quote=1089870]However mystery surrounds this development and the KLM website continues to accept bookings (I checked AMS-SIN) as normal.[/quote]

    Exactly — No joined up thinking at all — Simple common sense solutions backed up with existing complex methodology is whats needed now !!


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Intterestingly in February 2020 UK goverment took over one of the Holiday Inns at London Heathrow for use as a possible quarantine centre.

    Readers may remember this property as the former Ariel (one of Heathrow’s original hotels).

    One wonders if this hotel was ever used for quarantine purposes …

    https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-holiday-inn-near-heathrow-airport-designated-quarantine-centre-for-at-risk-passengers-11936752


    SimonS1
    Participant

    No, no, no and no for me.

    I could get the Sinopharm vaccine in Dubai for free but have decided against until UK or US Government approve it.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    Montysaurus
    Participant

    Canucklad – I don’t know why your comment was deemed inappropriate but perhaps Wee Burnie’s pals didn’t like the suggestion that politics influences everything in our neck of the UK. Or it could’ve been by a Blades fan.


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    KLM has acted this evening.

    Its UK office has tweeted ( @KLM_UK ) that all its UK-Amsterdam flights are cancelled between January 23 and January 27 inclusive.

    KLM says passengers are being contacted.

    It’s a lengthy thread and notes that further developments on KLM’s European and long-haul network *may* come into place in the following days.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    PeterCoultas
    Participant

    Currently in arrivals waiting for my wife to come through at terminal five. Have been informed that there are big queues but only one desk open… she landed an hour ago, kids crying and crowds waiting to process – presumably our wonderful home secretary has decided people need to catch the virus by waiting for ages for heathrow clearance… british chaos as usual…lucky that the flights are so nearly empty


    DavidSmith2
    Participant

    Good and thought-provoking set of questions….

    1. Should our borders be closed or heavily restricted for passenger traffic (not cargo)?

    No. We should have a proper and effective set of controls in place for the majority of travellers. That includes pre-flight tests, on arrival tests, follow up tests and quarantine if needed (and properly enforced)

    2. With so many empty hotels around our international airports, should self-isolation be moved up a notch into Asia / Australia style quarantine, with stricter enforcement? At least it may provide some business for the beleaguered hotel industry?

    Yes, but not for all – only those from high risk countries and those who test positive on arrival or where there is doubt about the veracity of their test results. The question then though, is who pays?

    3. Holidays – should people be booking holidays with the expectation they MUST go at all costs?

    No – simple as that.

    4. Now the controversial question – would you travel under the definition of medical treatment to get a UK approved vaccine privately, overseas?

    Hmm… I think the honest answer is yes. We may be waiting months here in Ghana and that impacts on work as well as social travel. I would probably salve my conscience by making a donation to allow others to have the vaccine as well, but I would get it done.


    Stevescoots
    Participant

    1. Yes, they should be closed to all apart from Uk nationals and foreign nationals with proof of Uk residence. Pre-approval for entry required.
    2. yes however I would cut to 10 days max. full costs borne by the quarantine users at a set government rate rather than hotels gouging the price. Everyone should have an RT PCR, not the less than reliable lateral one.
    3. No holidays. Business trips (if inbound quarantine is applied or only going to a gov approved safe country) , going home to another country or medical. Other reasons such as family crisis should go through an exit vis process.
    4. Yes I would


    Inquisitive
    Participant

    My answer will be Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes.

    I said on other forum subjects that post COVID-19, it will take significant time for non-essential travel to come back, if the world really want to control this disease.

    Of course as we progressed and the world became smaller due to jet travel, for many of us yearly vacations is Essential. For me it is and I am longing for vacations at distant land; so if vaccinations will allow that, I will take that as early as possible.

    But I know for sure that my business travel will be less than 50% from previous travel patterns even if everything became normal.

    I believe in future, business travel will be mostly nonessential, but leisure travel will be treated like essential in increasingly stressful world.


    PeterCoultas
    Participant

    Follow-on from yesterdays post…. took nearly 2 hours 30 minutes from landing to arrival hall… luckily a group of extra staff arrived to process passengers when a mid-east flight arrived but this may be coincidence or could have been the result of irate passengers stuck waiting but deciding to take photos of the chaos… a disgusting mess with some people missing their onward connections


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Further LHR delays at LHR this morning.

    twitter.com/JonHaworth_/status/1352954454493032450


    fatbear
    Participant

    Yes, Yes, No, No

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