London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jul 04, 2025

Allowing summer holidays abroad risks another lockdown, Johnson is warned

Allowing summer holidays abroad risks another lockdown, Johnson is warned

Sage experts are worried about overseas breaks leading to rise in vaccine-resistant variants in UK

Lifting the ban on foreign holidays in the coming months could risk another lockdown next winter, Boris Johnson is being warned, amid mounting alarm about a third wave of infections sweeping continental Europe.

Scientific experts and opposition politicians are urging the government to be extremely cautious before loosening travel restrictions, with their concerns about the prevalence of new variants of the virus overseas increasingly shared by Whitehall.

“I don’t think people should be planning on summer holidays abroad until next year,” said Prof Kamlesh Khunti, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and Independent Sage at the University of Leicester.

“It’s been a hard lockdown, we are doing so well, we cannot jeopardise this now. Our rates are coming down, our vaccination [rate] is fantastic, and the biggest fear we have is new variants that the vaccines don’t work as well against.

“We knew right at the beginning of the pandemic that our border control wasn’t good: we had people coming in from Spain and Italy and that increased the rates in the UK, and in the summer we have more cases come in. We cannot allow that now,” he said, adding, “Does this risk another lockdown? Absolutely.”

Rowland Kao, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh who contributes to the Spi-M modelling subgroup of Sage, said there were “a few reasons to be cautious” about opening up travel, in particular, the risk of importing Covid variants that could be vaccine resistant.

The remarks echoed those of Spi-M member Mike Tildesley, who said on Saturday that foreign travel for the average holidaymaker this summer looked “extremely unlikely”.

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, struck a cautious tone, when asked about the likelihood that travel restrictions could continue into the summer, saying it was too soon to book foreign holidays.

“We can’t be deaf and blind to what’s going on outside the United Kingdom. If you look in Europe, and the increases in infections, we can’t put at risk the huge amount of effort, by the taxpayer, by the NHS, by our scientists, in developing this vaccine,” he told Sophy Ridge on Sky News.

Vaccinations hit another record of 844,285 on Sunday. The number of new coronavirus cases was 5,312, while another 33 people were reported to have died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease.
Advertisement

The prime minister’s roadmap said foreign travel for all but a few specific purposes would not resume until 17 May at the earliest. Whitehall insiders said the government is scrutinising case rates in destination countries very carefully.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is overseeing a “global travel taskforce” to examine how holidays and other travel could be facilitated, which is due to report in three weeks’ time.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office is conducting a separate review of whether some form of Covid certificate could allow travellers to show that they have been vaccinated or have received a recent negative test result.

The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas Symonds, said: “The renewed surges of Covid across Europe are really worrying. The UK’s first priority has to be to protect the progress made by the vaccine – that means we need a comprehensive hotel quarantine system without further delay.

“Of course we all want international travel to resume, but safety has to come first. It is too early to say if there can be any changes to travel advice on 17 May, as numbers in many European countries are increasing so sharply. We have to be led by the science, not arbitrary dates.”

In a further blow to potential summer holiday plans, a series of European governments looks set to enforce further restrictions due to a surge in infections and European commissioner Didier Reynders said on Sunday that he did not expect an EU vaccine passport potentially facilitating travel to be available until at least July.


Ahead of a videoconference on Monday of Germany’s national and regional leaders, the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases reported that case levels had passed a key marker. The number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants hit 103.9 on Sunday, the institute said, above the 100 threshold at which it is deemed that Germany’s intensive care units will no longer be able to cope.

Meanwhile, in light of evidence of a third wave of infection on the continent, Belgium’s health minister, Frank Vandenbroucke, spoke on Sunday of the need for additional measures despite the country having been in a tough second national lockdown since November.

“We have set ourselves a very important ambition by completely opening schools after Easter and catering from May 1st,” Vandenbroucke said. “With this increase in contamination, there is a risk of not achieving these objectives.”

An in-person summit of EU heads of state and government scheduled to take place in Brussels on Thursday was cancelled on Sunday. The leaders will discuss the new wave of coronavirus cases via videoconference instead. A spokesperson said the decision had been taken “following the surge of Covid-19 cases in member states”.

The focus of EU leaders has moved in recent weeks from the question of how to safely reopen economies before the tourist season to protecting health services from becoming overwhelmed.


In Greece, a popular tourist destination for Britons, the government on Sunday warned that it could requisition private healthcare resources as its public system was facing strain.

However, any extension of the UK’s travel restrictions – which currently mean holidays are not allowed, and travellers must fill in a form stating the purpose of any trip – would be likely to infuriate Conservative backbenchers already chafing at the length of the current lockdown.

The House of Commons will hold a pair of votes on Thursday to decide whether to extend the government’s powers to impose tough restrictions on daily life for another six months, and a number of Tory MPs have warned they are minded to rebel.

Steve Baker, deputy chair of the Coronavirus Recovery Group of backbench MPs, said, “with so many vulnerable people now vaccinated, people may ask why the restrictions the government is bringing in this coming week are tougher than they were last summer when we didn’t have a vaccine.”

A government spokesperson said some aspects of the Coronavirus Act, which is due to be renewed this week, would be allowed to expire as they are no longer needed – but pointed out that the act also underpins support measures such as the furlough scheme and changes to statutory sick pay.

“The prime minister has said the intention is for our roadmap to be cautious but irreversible, so we need to assess the data against our four tests before proceeding with each step. We do not want any restrictions to be in place longer than needed,” the spokesperson said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Elon Musk Critiques Senate Budget Proposal Over Job Losses and Strategic Risks
Los Angeles Riots ended with Federal Investigations into Funding
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Education Secretary Announces Overhaul of Complaints System Amid Rising Parental Grievances
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Trump Ends Trade Talks with Canada Over Digital Services Tax
UK Government Softens Welfare Reform Plans Amid Labour Party Rebellion
Labour Faces Rebellion Over Disability Benefit Reforms Ahead of Key Vote
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Host Lavish Wedding in Venice Amid Protests
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
North Korea to Open New Beach Resort to Boost Tourism Economy
UK Labour Party Faces Internal Tensions Over Welfare Reforms
Andrew Cuomo Hints at Potential November Comeback Amid Democratic Primary Results
Curtis Sliwa Champions His Vision for New York City Amid Rising Crime Concerns
Federal Reserve Proposes Changes to Capital Rule Affecting Major Banks
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Media Over Iran Strike Coverage
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
Big Four Accounting Firms Fined in Exam Cheating Scandal
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
Australia's Star Casino Secures $195 Million Rescue Package Amid Challenges
UK to Enhance Nuclear Capabilities with Acquisition of F-35A Fighter Jets
×