[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

The feeling in my gut is that shrugging it off won't wash with the public, particularly if June 21 doesn't happen.

The outcry and onslaught will be serious in nature.

Even if he came clean and pleaded that he had to balance the economy against public health, the "partnership" with India is no big deal in this context.

I'm going to sound out whether or not the senior Tories are going to put up with this.

His popularity might be dented if 21st June is postponed but he delivered in the recent elections so he's secure in his role unless some of the other scandals hit home.

Michael Gove will just have to content himself by pitching his skills as a subject matter expert to Knives Out 2.

---------- Post added 16-05-2021 at 00:18 ---------- Previous post was 15-05-2021 at 23:54 ----------

Originally Posted by Carth

erm . . these '20,000+ allowed to enter UK from India' . . were they allowed to board in India, land in the UK, and then wander off wherever they wanted without any kind of testing or isolation period?

Serious question, because I've got absolutely no idea what the heck is happening anymore with 'International Travel' (or pubs, swimming baths, cinemas, HMRC, SNP, The Illuminati, and the price of coffee in Starbucks etc etc)

Alarming reports of the spread of a new highly infectious variant of Covid on the Indian subcontinent first emerged early last month.

The Government acted by adding Pakistan and Bangladesh – India’s direct neighbours – to its "red list" on April 2, barring foreign travellers and forcing 10-day hotel quarantines on returning UK citizens.

The decision led to concerns among epidemiologists, who questioned why India was not included.

Health officials had started to detect an increase in the arrival of Covid cases from India. Public Health England (PHE) data now shows that of the 3,345 people arriving from India between March 25 and April 7, 4.8 per cent tested positive, compared to 0.1 per cent of people in England...

With India not on the “red list”, all but a handful of these travellers would have been allowed to leave the airport and travel home, as well as being asked to self isolate.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, was determined to press ahead with a planned visit to India on April 25.

The plan was that he would be able to announce that early discussions were now under way over a new trade deal. But as more and more data from India began to ring alarm bells, he came under pressure to call off the trip. Downing Street eventually pulled the plug on April 19, on the same day Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, told the House of Commons that India would also be added to the red list – but only from 4am on April 23.

This was despite Downing Street having briefed journalists when the scheme was first unveiled that countries could be added "at a few hours' notice".

The result of the three-day delay was inevitable. Demand for flights between India and the UK rocketed amid a “desperate frenzy'” as families tried to beat the deadline and avoid having to quarantine in a hotel. Thousands of extra passengers travelled into Britain from the subcontinent.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...-hold-britain/