‘They listened to you!’ Jenrick shamed as furious Brits left to cope with Portugal U-turn

Robert Jenrick grilled by host on Portugal u-turn

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick was grilled on BBC Breakfast over the Government’s decision to remove Portugal from the green travel list. British travellers had previously been free to book holidays in Portugal and return home without having to quarantine. Portugal now joins the rest of the EU and most other countries on the amber list – anyone travelling from these countries must quarantine for 10 days at home on their return.

Robert Jenrick defended the Government’s decision by arguing that caution was needed to prevent further outbreaks of Covid-19, particularly given the spread of the Indian variant in the UK

He said: “I think that most people would appreciate that it’s right to be careful.”

However, BBC Breakfast host Charlie Stayt quizzed Mr Jenrick on the impact of the decision on Brits who had been following the rules.

Mr Stayt said: “A lot of people followed all of the government guidelines and went ahead and booked their trips to Portugal.

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Robert Jenrick said people were “frustrated and disappointed” (Image: BBC )

Charlie Stayt grilled Robert Jenrick on BBC Breakfast (Image: BBC)

“They were cautious. They listened to what you said and they booked their holidays.

“One of the reasons they felt emboldened to do that, following the rules, was that you said there would be a watchlist which would be the early warning indicator that the Government had concerns about a country.

“Which would give that buffer, and gave people the confidence to go.

“Now that system has disappeared, and a decision has been taken very, very quickly.”

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He asked: “Was that fair to those people who tried to stick to the rules?”

Mr Jenrick replied: “Well I appreciate those people will be frustrated and disappointed. We always said that we would review the countries on the lists every three weeks, that is what’s happened right now.

“But we’re also seeing that events are moving quite quickly, positivity is rising fast in Portugal, to a much higher level than we see here in the UK.

“And also this new mutation, and so we’ve chosen to be careful, to take it off the green list. People do have until Tuesday to return to the UK.”

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The decision to remove Portugal from the green list now means that just 11 countries remain on it.

This includes Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.

Brits can legally travel to amber countries but are strongly advised against it by government guidance.

Travel fears have been heightened by the spread of the Indian variant, which now accounts for 75 percent of new Covid cases in the UK.