Former PM Tony Blair warns quarantine restrictions ‘killing’ international travel
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned that quarantine restrictions are “killing” international travel, arguing that the policy wouldn’t be necessary with a better testing regime.
Blair, who believes we could be living with coronavirus restrictions for a further two years, said he opposed the blanket quarantine measures currently in place.
The former Labour Prime Minister welcomed new testing trials recently announced by the government, but added that they could have been brought in “several months ago”.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to do a 14 day quarantine when you come back into the country. That is if you want literally zero risk,” he told the BBC.
Blair added that the quarantine is “killing” international travel.
The government was yesterday accused of “overseeing the demise” of UK aviation as the sector braces for thousands of job losses and further travel restrictions.
Derek Provan, chief executive of AGS Airports, which runs Southampton, Aberdeen and Glasgow, said the sector was suffering more job losses than the demise of the coal industry in the 1980s.
Heathrow is preparing to cut up to a quarter of its frontline staff — 1,200 roles — after talks with unions stalled, Sky News reported.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic has secured court approval for its £1.2bn bailout deal, taking it a step closer to ensuring its survival.
Blair also warned that the UK could be living with coronavirus restrictions for an additional two years.
“I was talking to some experts yesterday, they reckon it’s two years that we’ll be living with this in a reasonably serious state,” Blair said.
“It will take us quite a long time before you get the vaccines in, you get them distributed, you learn what works, what doesn’t work, so you’re going to be carrying on with a lot of the infrastructure around coronavirus for the next two years, realistically.”