WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols has called on the Government to take stronger action on borders and quarantine.
Both the Brazilian and South African strains of Covid-19 have now been identified in the UK which has shown that current protections are ineffective.
Labour, nationally and Charlotte Nichols locally, are supporting the “Let’s Vaccinate Britain” campaign, but the rollout is now at risk of being undermined because of ineffective border controls, the MP says.
SAGE has warned the Government that the only way to “get close” to stop new variants was to completely close the borders or introduce hotel quarantine for everyone entering Britain.
In a debate on Covid security at UK borders Ms Nichols referenced the alarming statistic that just three in every100 people quarantining have been contacted by the Government’s Isolation Assurance Service.
Her speech also discussed the comparative success of New Zealand’s quarantine and the false choice between protecting the economy and saving lives.
She also reported hearing from constituents lucky enough to have gone abroad, who have emphasised the stark contrast between the controls in the UK and the country they were travelling to.
Ms Nichols said: “At each stage of this crisis, the Government has acted too slowly and too weakly and this is yet another example. They must change course now and implement tougher restrictions before a new variant is allowed to spread, undermining our immense sacrifices and the fantastic progress made with vaccinations. We cannot, yet again, squander our advantage as an island nation to properly control our borders. It has been revealed that SAGE called on the Government to do this two weeks ago. It begs the question, why aren’t the Government following the science?”
