Robert Jenrick hints more green list countries could be moved to amber – be ‘flexible’
Robert Jenrick #RobertJenrick
Robert Jenrick advises UK to ‘only book flexible holidays’
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Robert Jenrick has called for Britons to book “flexible” holidays to avoid missing out as travel restrictions continue to change. There are only a small number of destinations still on the UK’s green list.
The housing secretary spoke during an appearance on BBC Breakfast today.
Mr Jenrick discussed travel as the green, amber and red lists were altered yesterday.
Most notably, the tourist hotspot Portugal was changed from being a green list country to an amber list one and this will come into effect on Tuesday.
Mr Jenrick advised Britons against booking travel to an amber or red list country.
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“The very strong message from us today is you shouldn’t be going on holiday to any country that is on the red or amber list right now,” he told the presenters.
“I personally wouldn’t book any holidays in the future for countries that are on those lists.”
While countries such as Gibraltar, Iceland and Australia remain on the green list, the secretary hinted this could change.
He suggested being “careful” and making flexible bookings even when visiting green list countries.
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“Be careful, be cautious, there remains a small number of countries on the green list,” he continued.
“But even there, if you are booking holidays, be careful, speak to your operator, see that there’s flexibility in case you need to change plans later on this summer.”
Those who were planning to travel to Portugal have had to cancel plans and holidaymakers already there have been given just days to return.
Mr Jenrick commented on the timeframe and explained giving tourists until Tuesday to return should help avoid crowding at airports.
He said: “We’ve always said we’ll give people an orderly amount of time to return to the UK and to bring their holidays or travels to a conclusion.
“We think it is sensible to give people a period of time to return to the UK, they’ve got until Tuesday to do so.
“That is designed to help people come back in an orderly manner and not see scenes at airports of people crowded together, there are risks involved in creating that sort of situation.”
He discussed why Portugal had been removed from the green list in the latest Government review.
“We have taken a cautious approach by taking Portugal off the green list and putting it back on the amber list,” he added.
“I think that’s the right thing to do to protect the public.
“I appreciate that people will be frustrated by that.
“Overall we’ve got to take a careful approach right now because there has been such good progress domestically, let’s not put that at risk.”