The government is under pressure to allow quarantine-free holidays to France.
Yesterday saw plans for an amber watchlist scrapped and the ‘amber plus’ list could be next.
Nearby France is the only country on this list, as it was removed from a scheme for double jabbed tourists to holiday abroad over concerns about the Beta variant.
But trips across the Channel could soon be back on the cards amid pressure from tourism industry leaders and a desire to simplify UK travel rules.
Skills minister Gillian Keegan told Times Radio: ‘We have explored all options, looked at all options, but the most important thing is that the system is actually simple enough for people to understand.’
In a second interview, she told Sky News that transport secretary Grant Shapps will this week ‘set out more in terms of what is happening with amber plus and also with France in particular’.
Mr Shapps is set to hold another review of the travel rules on Thursday – and three countries face being moved into the red.
Data analyst Tim White said Thailand, Georgia and Iran are in danger of being put on the red travel list, which means Brits are advised not to visit.
Travel chiefs said a simplification of the rules was needed to give the public the ‘confidence to travel’.
Paul Charles of The PC Agency travel consultancy said: ‘Overseas travel has to be simplified further.
‘American citizens don’t have to put up with an opaque and inconsistent Government traffic lights system in order to go places, so why should UK citizens?’
Noel Josephides, chairman of travel firm Sunvil, told the BBC: ‘The government is acting as if they have done us an enormous favour by not having an amber watchlist.
‘The truth is this: unless the government can give a guarantee that between now and the end of October countries that are either green or amber will mean that anyone visiting them will not be forced to self-isolate when they get back – i.e. the public is given the confidence to travel – then any tinkering around the edges just does not work.’
Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon demanded the data behind the Government’s decisions on travel rules.
He said: ‘Ministers need to get a grip and set out a proper strategy, provide full data and progress work with global partners on international vaccine passports so travellers and the industry can have the maximum clarity, instead of reckless U-turns and confusion.’
MORE : What are the current travel restrictions for green, amber and red list countries?
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