London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Covid: Would-be travellers must prove journey is essential

Covid: Would-be travellers must prove journey is essential

People wishing to travel out of the UK will first be required to declare their reason for travel and prove it is essential, the home secretary has said.

Priti Patel said declarations would be checked by carriers and there would be increased police at airports and ports.

The PM said earlier that UK nationals and residents returning from "red list" Covid hotspots would have to quarantine in government-provided hotels.

But Labour described the measures as "too little, too late".

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said protecting the UK's borders was one of the key areas where the government had "fallen short" and he was "deeply concerned" the latest measures were "yet another example of this - too little, too late".

He added proposals to limit hotel quarantine to the specific "red list" of countries did "not go anywhere near far enough", adding the measures left "huge gaps" in the UK's defences against emerging variants of the virus.

It comes as a further 1,725 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test were reported in the UK on Wednesday, as well another 25,308 new infections, according to the government dashboard.

The data also shows that up to and including 26 January, more than seven million people have received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

In a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Ms Patel said England's lockdown rules were "clear [that] people should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to leave. Going on holiday is not a valid reason."

She said the new rule would require people wishing to leave the UK to go abroad to first "make a declaration for why they need to travel", which would then be "checked by carriers prior to departure".

Ms Patel said: "Anyone who doesn't have a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home or they will face a fine."

What counts as essential travel?


Under the national lockdown, people must only travel abroad for essential reasons.

These are the same as the "reasonable excuses" for domestic travel, including:

*  Work that cannot be done from home

*  Medical appointments

*  Educational reasons

She said it was "clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day" and other border measures would be toughened up to "reduce passenger flow" and protect the UK's "world-leading" vaccination programme.

Police checks at home addresses will be increased to ensure arrivals are complying with self-isolation rules, and the UK will continue to refuse entry to non-UK citizens from "red list" countries which were already subject to the travel ban.

The list of travel exemptions would also be "urgently" reviewed, she added, to make sure "only the most important and with exceptional reasons are included".





Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that UK nationals and residents returning from 30 high-risk countries would have to quarantine in government-provided hotels.

The measures will apply to people coming from most of South America, southern Africa and Portugal, amid concern over new variants of the virus. Most overseas visitors from those countries are already barred from entering the UK.

British nationals and those with residency rights who arrive from high-risk countries will be required to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense for up to 10 days, in a bid to improve compliance with self-isolation rules.

Covid hotel quarantine: 'It's the luck of the draw'



Keri's children Quinn and Nyala kept busy with board games


Keri McMenamin was returning to the country with her husband and two children after securing a job offer - leaving the UK in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

"It is literally luck of the draw," the 38-year-old said after securing her family's place in Australia's 14-day quarantine system. "You didn't know what to expect." Having done some research, Keri discovered Facebook groups busy with people relaying their experiences of quarantine.

"A lot of people were saying, 'Look, just expect the worst and then whatever you get is a bonus.'"

In the end, the family was given an interconnecting room. But the windows were sealed and their time outside limited to 20-minute stints every two to three days.

Mr Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday that arrivals who could not be refused entry would be required to isolate in government provided accommodation, such as hotels, "without exception".

These arrivals would be escorted from the airport and "transported directly into quarantine", with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) working to set up these facilities "as quickly as possible", he said.

Ms Patel said the DHSC would "set out further details" on the hotel quarantine policy next week.

Ian Blackford, the SNP's Westminster leader, told the Commons that the Scottish and Welsh governments wanted "to go further" than what the UK government was proposing on quarantine measures, and challenged the PM to "stop his half measures" and bring in "stricter enforcement on international travel".

A spokesman for the Welsh government said "the need for a joint approach" to border measures had been agreed between the UK's four nations and the Republic of Ireland, but it did not believe the approach outlined by the UK government went "far enough".

"Further discussions on the details of the proposals will take place as soon as possible," he added.

In response to the government's announcement, Airport Operators Association chief executive Karen Dee welcomed the news that the new hotel quarantine policy would only apply to a limited number of countries, but questioned what "additional public health benefit" it would have, given strict travel rules were recently introduced.

She called on the government to set out "when and how we can ease all these measures safely and provide people with reassurance that travel will be possible again in the future".

At the moment, incoming travellers have to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test on departure, taken in the previous 72 hours. Then they still have to quarantine for up to 10 days, although this can be done at home.

Those who do not comply will face a fine of £500, with Border Force officials carrying out spot checks.

In England, the self-isolation period can be cut short with a second negative test after five days.

Quarantine rules are set separately in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but have tended to differ only slightly.

Hotel quarantine is already in use in countries including New Zealand and Australia.


Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the new quarantine rules will apply "without exception"


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×