Christina Rees, MP for Neath, this week supported Labour’s calls for the UK Government to scrap the Amber List and have a limited Green List to prevent any further variants of Covid-19 disrupting the opening up of the country and the economy.
Labour are pointing to the fact that the UK Government added Bangladesh and Pakistan to the Red List on 9 April, when cases started to rise, but delayed for a further 14 days to add India to the Red List even though India had case increases. They are accusing the UK Government of dither and delay and allowing the widespread transmission of the Delta variant which SAGE has confirmed is 60% more transmissible.
Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show that thousands of people have continued to fly between high-risk areas and the UK and airports have struggled to separate those entering the UK from high-risk and low-risk countries.
Christina Rees MP said:
“This UK Tory Government has put trade deal photo ops above the safety and security of the UK. To make matters worse, the quarantine system is failing to work adequately with many slipping under the radar and others enduring sub-standard accommodation.
“The Traffic Light System is not working and we are now seeing the consequences of that: the delayed lifting of lockdown restrictions. This UK Government has continued to put shine above substance and the UK public deserve better.
“Our NHS staff are working so hard to roll out the vaccination programme and the UK Tory Government should not be undermining their task. It is time for them to put the country first and eliminate the Amber List. The UK Government must make it clear that if people must travel then they can only do so to Green List countries. The UK Government have played fast and loose with our border security: putting the hard work of everyone in the UK at risk.”
