MATT Hancock tonight launched a desperate defence of the Government’s holiday advice after two days of widespread confusion.
The Health Secretary insisted they had been “crystal clear” about whether people should travel to amber list countries – despite ministers taking to the airwaves with wildly different messages.
Boris Johnson today tried to bring the chaotic comms under control by telling Brits only to travel to amber places in extreme circumstances.
But only yesterday he was forced to slap down his Environment Secretary George Eustice for suggesting travel was allowed to see family and friends.
And junior health minister Lord Bethell veered drastically in the other direction by calling all foreign trips this year “dangerous”.
Grilled by the Sun at tonight’s No10 briefing, Mr Hancock said: “We’ve been absolutely straightforward about this.
“The thing is, I think the public get it and understand it. If you look at what the PM said last week, what I said at the weekend, what I said at the House on Monday, what the PM said at lunchtime today, we’ve been absolutely crystal clear.”
It came as Mr Johnson today scrambled to fend off fresh accusations that he left Britain exposed to variants by keeping the borders “wide open”.
Sir Keir Starmer fumed that flights from red-list India were still landing in the UK despite fears the infectious strain will wreck the roadmap.
The PM has been dogged by claims he dithered to ban travel from India and allowed the mutation to get a foothold in the country.
It came as:
- Keir Starmer called on the PM to axe the travel traffic light system
- A minister said “people were hoping” for more green list countries
- More than 3,000 cases of the Indian variant are now in the UK
- The PM was “increasingly confident” jabs work against the strain
In their weekly Commons showdown the Labour leader took aim at the Government’s traffic light system before tearing into its track record.
He raged: “Our borders have been wide open pretty well throughout the pandemic.
“There was no hotel quarantine system in place until February this year. Flights are still coming in from India.
“And even as the variant is spreading, the prime minister decides now is the time to weaken the system even more. It’s ridiculous.”
Sir Keir also taunted the PM by bringing up criticism made by his former adviser Dominic Cummings, who has called the UK’s border’s “a joke”.
Mr Johnson swatted aside the attacks and claimed Britain has one of the “strongest regimes” in the world.
He instead put the boot into Labour for wanting to “cut the whole country off from the rest of the world”.
The pair had locked horns over Brits still jetting off on holiday to amber list countries.
The Government’s messaging was flung into a tailspin yesterday when Environment Secretary George Eustice said people can travel to amber countries to see their friends and family.
He was quickly slapped down by the PM – before health minister Lord Bethell sowed further confusion by calling all travel this year “dangerous”.
Mr Johnson tried to stamp his authority on the row at PMQs by unequivocally telling people to only go to amber countries in exceptional circumstances – not holidays.
It means holidaymakers are urged to take breaks in the 12 green list countries where no self-isolation is required on return.
Forty-three countries are on the red list, where travel is banned except for returning Brits who must go into hotel quarantine for 10 days.
Amid widespread confusion Sir Keir told the PM to axe the traffic light system.
He said: “Why doesn’t the Prime Minister to drop this hopeless system, get control of our borders and introduce a proper system that can protect against the threat of future variants of the virus?”
