Home secretary Priti Patel has been urged to resign if she loses a court case over the government’s “devastating” quarantine rules.
The Quash Quarantine collective of travel companies and hospitality businesses has written to her warning that 1.7 million jobs in the industry are being put at risk by a policy which they warn renders economic recovery “impossible.”
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Hundreds of businesses in the UK travel and hospitality sector, including Gold Medal and Travel 2, Travel Republic, Mr & Mrs. Smith, Prestige Holidays and Red Savannah say they have lost confidence in Patel, as “the architect of a policy that prevents any form of sector recovery.”
The move follows the filing of a High Court legal action on Friday by British Airways’ parent company IAG, Ryanair and EasyJet to block the policy.
Patel has maintained quarantine is necessary to prevent a second wave of coronavirus.
The second letter to the home secretary follows an initial communication with Patel in May when the 410-strong Quash Quarantine group comprised of 77 travel and hospitality firms.
George Morgan-Grenville, chief executive of tour operator Red Savannah and leader of Quash Quarantine, says: “By effectively locking down incoming travel by means of quarantine, and stopping outbound travel by means of blanket FCO travel advice, the government has ensured that any recovery, following three months of no sales, is now rendered impossible.
“How have we ended up with a government that seeks to drive the final nails into the coffin of a once thriving domestic and international tourism industry?”
The letter continues: “It is our understanding that in addition to the government’s failure to seek a recommendation from SAGE before implementing quarantine, the legislation was brought before the House without any impact assessment being conducted.”
Modelling undertaken by the World Travel & Tourism Council shows the combination of quarantine and FCO travel advice could result in a sector decline of £148 billion and a possible loss of up to 1.7 million jobs.
The letter adds: “With the greatest respect home secretary, you are presiding over an economic disaster that will soon be on an epic scale.
“You will be remembered as the home secretary whom, despite being warned clearly of the consequences, continued to implement blindly and obstinately probably the most damaging and ineffectual piece of legislation that has ever been conceived by any UK government.
“Under your leadership, the Home Office has made no effort to engage with the many business owners who could have assisted your team to understand the real consequences…..instead you held a single late afternoon Zoom call with a couple of trade bodies and to which the largest UK airline decided not to turn up to.
“The current legal action being undertaken by IAG and others will no doubt bring into the open much of the decision-making process involved in the implementation of quarantine. It will also determine whether the government’s action was unlawful, possibly opening up the government to claims for substantial damages.”
The letter adds: “As home secretary you seem oblivious to the pain that employees are going through and, more worryingly, the Home Office appears to have no understanding of the commercial realities of running a business through this pandemic…..many in the leadership of the travel and hospitality sector have lost confidence in you as home secretary. We desperately need support from the government but instead we see obstacles to recovery.
“I’m sure you’ll agree that the honourable thing to do, if the quarantine measures are found to be unlawful, will be to resign.
“In conclusion…..quarantine, combined with the now unnecessary and ill-advised FCO blanket travel advice, is economically devastating and destroying the livelihoods of so many.
“Quite simply, we need both to be withdrawn before it is too late. While the rest of Europe gets going again, the idea of a Global Britain is fast becoming a national embarrassment.”
Quash Quarantine has argued for effective test and trace as well as airport swab testing to be used as alternatives to quarantine and the Foreign Office advice.
These would have a less damaging impact on the economy as consumers would still be able to book future business and leisure trips with confidence, the group believes.
The Department for Transport is “actively working” on ‘travel corridors’ to low-risk countries that would allow holidaymakers to avoid 14-day isolation on their return to the UK. The quarantine rules are due to be reviewed on June 29.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the BBC on Sunday: “We all want to see travel open again, of course we do, and like everything else we want to make sure we have the right measures at the right time informed by the science.
“We are looking at all options to ensure that it is possible and people have got suggestions about how to open up some travel corridors over time.”
The latest development came as easyJet resumed flights today (Monday) for the first time in almost three months, initially serving ten UK airports with mainly domestic routes before further expanding the network across the summer.
The budget carrier plans to fly half of its 1,022 routes in July and 75% in August, although with a lower frequency of flights equating to around 30% of normal July to September capacity.
A government spokesman said: “Our priority will always be to protect the public’s health and these measures will do exactly this.
“The quarantine system is designed to keep the transmission rate down, stop new cases being brought in from abroad, and help prevent a devastating second wave.
“These measures are informed by science, backed by the public and will keep us all safe.
“We are supporting tourism businesses through one of the most generous economic packages in the world, and continue to look at options to increase international travel, when it is safe to do so.”
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