Javid wants to ditch PCR tests for travellers ‘as soon as possible’ – as vaccine passports axed
Sajid Javid has told Sky News he wants to remove the PCR test requirement for travellers returning from some foreign countries “as soon as I possibly can”.
The health secretary said he was aware of the cost for families holidaying abroad and that the measure should not be in place “for a second longer than is absolutely necessary”.
Mr Javid said he had asked officials to remove the rule “at the moment we can”.
Sajid Javid said PCR tests are costly for families looking to holiday abroad
Meanwhile, the health secretary also told Sky News he did not “like the idea” of vaccine passports and hoped to “avoid” introducing them.
“We have got a huge number of defences; of course we still want to remain very cautious, and there are some things that – when it comes to travel for example – there are some rules that are going to have to remain in place,” Mr Javid told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday.
“But the PCR test that is required upon your return to the UK from certain countries, look, I want to try and get rid of that as soon as I possibly can.
“I am not going to make that decision right now, but I have already asked officials that at the moment we can, let’s get rid of these kind of intrusions, the costs that generates for families, particularly families just trying to go out and holiday.
“We shouldn’t be keeping anything like that in place for a second longer than is absolutely necessary.”
Last month, the government announced the cost of NHS coronavirus tests for international travel were being reduced from £88 to £68 each
At present, passengers returning from green list countries, or amber list destinations if they are fully vaccinated, must take PCR tests on or before day two after they arrive in England.
Last month, the government announced the cost of NHS coronavirus tests for international travel were being reduced from £88 to £68 each, with the sum for two rests reducing from £170 to £136.
The travel industry, which has been hammered by the pandemic, has long complained that the costs of tests are too high.
In August, Mr Javid announced a “rapid internal review” of prices charged by government-approved companies after claims holidaymakers were being exploited over private testing.
Asked on Sky News whether Labour would support scrapping the need for PCR tests to be taken by those travelling internationally, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said his party “will have to see what the proposal is when it comes before Parliament”.
Mr Ashworth added that, “at first sight”, reports of the government plans “looks like a reasonable approach”.
International travellers returning to Wales will be offered a wider choice of COVID test providers from 21 September
The debate comes as the Welsh government announced that international travellers returning to Wales will be offered a wider choice of COVID test providers from 21 September.
The Welsh government said in a statement it would make the change from September 21 as “new standards and spot checks are being introduced, which will help to address long-standing concerns and issues about the market for PCR tests” for those returning to the UK.
Meanwhile, on the use of vaccine passports, Mr Javid said the government would not introduce the measure unless there is “no alternative”.
“I think if we went down the road of vaccine passports or vaccine certification as it is sometimes called, that is a big decision for any government to make,” the health secretary told Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday.
The travel industry has long complained that the costs of tests are too high
“We have been looking at that, we have been open about that, instinctively I do not like the idea at all of people having to, let’s say, present papers to do basic things.
“So if we do that, it has to be something that is looked at very carefully and something that we believe has to be done with no alternative.”
The health secretary said “rising” vaccination rates should be taken into account when making “a final decision” on whether vaccine passports should be used, adding: “But I hope we can avoid it.”
He continued: “I am not here today to rule that out, we haven’t made a final decision as a government.
“We have been looking at it, we have been very open about that, but as I have said, I think that if we did something like that it has to be supported by the evidence and it has to be something that is absolutely, absolutely necessary with no alternative.
“So as I say, I hope we can avoid it.”
Sajid Javid told Sky News he does not like the idea of vaccine passports and that they would only be brought in if there is ‘no alternative’
Earlier this week, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said an extension to use of vaccine passports will be looked at if there is a “public health need”.
Mr Dowden told Sky News the government “want as few restrictions for as short a period as possible”, but that if the situation with coronavirus worsens, ministers will consider requiring vaccine certification to attend more venues to “protect” the public.
The culture secretary did, however, emphasise that the government is “always reluctant to impose further burdens on businesses unless we really have to”.
It came a day after Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that vaccine passports will be introduced in Scotland for entry into venues with large crowds from 1 October.
COVID-19 certification will be required to enter events such as nightclubs, music festivals and some football grounds, Ms Sturgeon said.
MSPs in Holyrood voted by 68 to 55 in favour of the measure which will be introduced from 1 October after all Scottish adults have had the opportunity to receive both COVID-19 vaccines, with two weeks having passed to allow the vaccine to take effect.
Speaking on Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Ms Sturgeon said the measure “is part of a package of measures, it has a part to play”.
“Anybody who thinks there is one single magic wand solution to this virus probably haven’t learned a lot over the last 18 months, and secondly, any measure we take has upsides and it has downsides.”
She added: “This is a very limited scheme, it is in fact similar to what is being proposed in England as well, and it has a part to play.”
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
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Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
British Steel declined to comment.
UK
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
Read more:
Who is Yang Tenbo?
Virginia Giuffre says she has days to live
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He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.
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