Coronavirus: MPs slam ‘serious mistake’ over UK border policy
The spread of coronavirus in the UK could have been curbed if the government had not made the “serious mistake” of failing to impose quarantine restrictions on international arrivals, a group of MPs has said.
The Home Affairs committee said ministers had underestimated the threat of importing the virus from Europe, as opposed to Asia, in the early months of the pandemic.
In a scathing report published today, the committee said: “The decision to lift all Covid-19 related guidance for international arrivals on 13 March, just as other countries were expanding their border measures, is inexplicable.”
“Evidence suggests that thousands of new infections resulted from cases arriving from Europe in the ten days between this decision and the introduction of lockdown on 23 March.”
MPs added that the failure to have any special border measures at the outset “was a serious mistake that significantly increased both the pace and the scale of the epidemic in the UK”.
“Had stronger early measures been taken, we conclude that it is likely that the spread of the virus could have been slowed.”
MPs asked the government nine times for scientific evidence to back up the decision to end travel restrictions, but none was provided.
“In such circumstances as these, the committee could quite reasonably conclude the advice we requested simply does not exist,” the report stated.
Airplane arrivals to the UK totalled 7m in January, 6.8m in February and 3.8m in March, before falling to just 112,000 in April after restrictions were imposed, the report said.
The government first issued quarantine rules on 25 February for travellers from Wuhan and the Hubei province in China — the epicentre of the initial coronavirus outbreak — as well as Iran and parts of South Korea.
People arriving in the UK from those countries were told to self-isolate for 14 days.
Italy was added to the list on 10 March, but neither Spain nor France were ever added to a list of restricted countries.
MPs added that a later decision on 13 March to end self-isolation advice for international arrivals not displaying symptoms was “inexplicable”.
Labour MP and committee chairman Yvette Cooper said the failure to impose quarantine restrictions early on was a “grave error”.
“The UK was almost unique in having no border checks or quarantine arrangements at that time,” she added. “That alone should have rung loud alarm bells for ministers and made them think again.”
Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine echoed Cooper’s claims, and urged the government to launch an independent inquiry into the UK’s quarantine measure.
“It has become increasingly clear that the government was poorly prepared for a pandemic and slow to act when it hit,” said Jardine.
“We need an immediate, independent inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic, with the strongest possible powers so we can learn the lessons to prevent further unnecessary deaths in the future.”
A Home Office spokesperson said the government had followed the scientific advice.
“With passengers numbers significantly reduced, the scientific advice was clear that quarantine measures for those entering the country from abroad would be most effective when the UK has a lower level of infection,” they added.
“Therefore, as the virus was brought under control here, border measures were introduced on 8 June to protect public health and help avoid a second peak that would overwhelm the NHS.”