UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps threw the UK travel industry into total confusion following an interview on this morning’s Today programme on BBC Radio 4, where he branded the act of booking a summer holiday “illegal.” He urged holidaymakers to desist: “Please don’t go ahead and book a holiday for something which at this stage is illegal.” He added that it was too early to say whether Britons will be able to travel this summer and warned them, “You want to wait until that is clear before booking. Do nothing at this stage.”
However, he also rolled back the government’s assertion that they would not be supporting a ‘vaccine passport’ when it emerged that the UK government had hired a technology company to develop an app to store personal vaccination details. Speaking on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday, February 7, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi ruled out any plans to issue a so-called ‘vaccine passport’ which would allow those who’ve been inoculated against Covid to travel freely overseas. Mr Shapps countered that the government had never ruled out vaccination passports for international travel but only for entering venues in the UK.
“The best advice to people is do nothing at this stage”
Grant Shapps tells #R4Today “it’s too early" to book summer holidays. The Transport Secretary says people should wait until the situation with Covid is clearer before planning any trips.https://t.co/JbErf28MvZ
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 10, 2021
