On Monday 4th January, as the Prime Minister announced that England will be slipping into a national lockdown for the next few weeks, the Mayor of London demanded that they needed to “get a grip” on the “ease” with which foreign travellers and arrivals entered the UK.
Sadiq Khan expressed his frustration about the “ease” with which foreign travellers can come into the capital as he demanded stricter quarantining and testing regimes be implemented. To stop the spread of coronavirus, the Mayor has insisted that these rules be toughened. According to him, powers relating to quarantine rules lie with the Government, rather than the Mayor’s Office, and that his calls have so far “fallen on deaf ears”.
Mr Khan also criticised the Government for failing to be clear with its messaging on what people need to do – and insisted that police are enforcing the rules. He said, “Other countries that have been affected have not allowed people to come in unless they properly quarantine for a period of time and there is proper testing. If you compare and contrast what happens at our airports in relation to the airports in, for example, Seoul, there is a big difference.
“So I’m really frustrated, as the mayor of a city with a number of airports serving us – Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, City, plus the Eurostar – at the ease with which people can come in to our city, potentially with new strains of the virus. I am asking for much more strict controls in relation to those arriving in our country, including not least far more testing at the point of arrival and proper quarantining before they leave the airport firstly for the testing and before they can leave their homes.”
