Gatwick MP urges prime minister to get on with scrapping PLFs
Former MemberGatwick MP Henry Smith has told Boris Johnson to get on with scrapping passenger locator forms (PLFs), branding the regime a “frustrating procedure".
Last month, Johnson confirmed the government would look to review the PLF by Easter. Transport secretary Grant Shapps has been among his Westminster colleagues to speak out against the PLF.
Smith, leader of the all-party parliamentary Future of Aviation group, wrote to the Johnson on Wednesday (2 March) stating the forms were “no longer fit for purpose or necessary”.
All travellers are currently still required to complete PLFs before arriving in the UK. Smith pointed out that after the latest easing of legally binding Covid restrictions, including the wearing of face coverings in public spaces and self-isolation rules, many industries had returned to normal – with travel being a notable exception.
In his letter, Smith said more needed to be done to “remove the final restrictions on international travel”, which he added were dampening consumer confidence in the sector.
He said that “yet again”, travel and tourism was one of the only industries still subject to restrictions, despite it being "crucial" to the country’s economic recovery.
He also made reference the industry’s economic losses last year which, according to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), ran to £7 billion in the UK in 2021.
While he acknowledged the benefits felt by the travel industry of the lifting of restrictions up to this point, and of the government’s vaccine roll-out and booster programme, he stressed that there should be a “concerted effort” to help the sector in order to aid in UK’s economic recovery.
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