London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Boris Johnson: UK considering tougher measures on France arrivals

Boris Johnson: UK considering tougher measures on France arrivals

Tougher measures on hauliers travelling from France to the UK are to be considered to stop Covid variants being imported, Boris Johnson has said.

At an MPs' hearing, the prime minister was asked why France had not been added to the UK's travel "red list".

Mr Johnson said there was a balance needed between protecting public health and keeping trade flowing.

His comments come amid concerns about the spread of South African, UK and Brazilian variants in France.

The "red list", which requires arriving people to pay to quarantine in a hotel, is part of travel regulations aimed at stopping Covid variants entering the country.

Questioning the PM at the Liaison Committee, Labour's Yvette Cooper said every week 20,000 people - such as lorry drivers - were coming to the UK from France - and two-thirds of them were exempt from restrictions.

She said France had up to 3,000 cases of the South African and Brazilian variants and questioned why it was not on the "red list" of countries from which travel is effectively banned.

She acknowledged the need for trade would mean quarantine was not appropriate for hauliers but questioned why they were not being tested for coronavirus.

Boris Johnson said there was a balance to achieve

Mr Johnson said putting France on the "red list" was "something that we will have to look at".

When pushed on whether hauliers should be tested, Mr Johnson said the decision required weighing up the efficacy of current vaccines on the variants of concern and the disruption that would cause to goods being brought across to the UK.

He pointed out that 75% of the UK's medicines and 50% of its food comes through short straits (Dover-Calais, ferry and tunnel).

"We will take a decision, no matter how tough, to interrupt those flows, if we think it is necessary to protect public health. It may be that we have to do that very soon," he told the committee.

On Tuesday, health minister Lord Bethell said the UK's nearest neighbours could join other nations on the country's "red list".

There was a "possibility" that every European country could face a ban, he added, but that would be done "with huge regret".

In December, France closed its border to arrivals from the UK including hauliers.

The two-day closure led to queues of thousands of lorries trying to cross the channel, which was eased after France agreed to allow hauliers to cross once they had a negative Covid test result.

Under lockdown rules, holiday travel is not currently allowed - either in the UK or abroad.

New coronavirus laws, due to be introduced in England on Monday, would mean a £5,000 fine for travelling outside the UK without a reasonable excuse.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×