Shapps: 'It's time to liberalise our international travel regime'

The transport secretary’s comments came after prime minister Boris Johnson confirmed the government would  further ease the government’s Covid travel regime in the coming weeks.

Johnson said Day 2 testing for fully vaccinated arrivals into the UK would be scrapped, while Covid passes for travel are set to be extended to 12- to 15-year-olds from 3 February.

Shapps confirmed the changes to Day 2 testing for fully vaccinated arrivals would come into effect from 4am on Friday 11 February, just in time for the February half-term (14-18 February) getaway. A Passenger Locator Form (PLF) will still be required.

He said the current definition of fully vaccinated (two doses of an approved vaccination) would remain “for now”.

Shapps also changed the rules for those not fully vaccinated. He said: “They will no longer be required to do a Day 8 test after arrival or indeed, to self-isolate. They will still have to fill out a Passenger Locator Form to demonstrate proof of a negative Covid test taken two days before they travel and they must still take a post-arrival PCR test.”

For children travelling to the UK, under 18s will continue to be treated as eligible fully-vaccinated passengers, which will mean no tests at the UK border.

Vaccinated travellers will still have to fill in a Passenger Locator Form, but this would be simplified and, from the end of February, an extra day will be given to fill it out.

Shapps told parliament: “Everybody should now feel confident about booking holidays and business trips."

He said the option for the red list remained in place, but added: “We are looking to replace the managed quarantine system with other contingency measures including home isolation.

“Over time we intend to move away from blanket border measures to a sophisticated targeted global system. I believe the days of having to go back to those big lockdowns at borders are past.”

He said the government would set out its strategy “next month” and concluded: “Today, we are setting Britain free.”

Transport committee chair Huw Merriman said the news was “surely the evidence they need that people should feel confident to book with certainty.”

He asked that should another variant emerge, international travel “is not the sector that has to be made an example of and it will continue to be supported”.