Green list news live: Latest travel updates

Ahead of the next traffic light reshuffle tomorrow, the transport secretary has said he hopes “the world could open up”.

Grant Shapps told the PA news agency that other countries are “catching up” with the UK’s coronavirus vaccination programme.

Most countries in Europe, including holiday hotspots Greece, Spain and France, are currently on the UK’s amber list, which necessitates 10 days of self-isolation and two post-arrival PCR tests.

Only Gibraltar and Iceland are realistic non-quarantine destinations for British travellers at the moment.

Asked about the prospect of restrictions being eased, Mr Shapps said: “I’m optimistic that the world is catching up with where we are in our vaccination programme.

“What happens in the UK is, people say ‘well everyone I know or a lot of people I know are vaccinated’.

“People will say that, but of course as soon as you go abroad you find that’s actually not the case.

“So balancing the opening up whilst preserving people’s safety and security at home is absolutely at the forefront.

“Of course I very much hope the world could open up. We’ve got to follow the data, and that’s what we’ll be doing in the meetings over the next few days.”

Additional reporting by agencies

Millions of people have chosen to stay in the UK this year. The media minister, John Whittingdale, told Sky News: “You can have a great holiday in Britain and I think a very large number of people will decide this year that that’s what they will do.”

But how to arrange it? With demand surging, in some parts of the country, prices are high and availability is low.

The solution: choose a great British city. They good connections, heritage and gastronomy in abundance, and hotels at very competitive prices. You’re all set – and can explore beyond the city on a series of day trips by rail and bus.

Here are five of my favourites.

“Hundreds” of travel companies face going under if they can’t afford to renew their Atol status come September, according to Which? Travel editor Rory Boland.

The consumer champion said the “clock is ticking” for much of the industry.

“In September holiday firms must renew their Atol – essentially a license to sell holidays,” he tweeted.

“Unless they can operate this summer or get government support many won’t have the money to renew.

“Hundreds of business ordinarily in good financial standing could fail. The clock is ticking.”

He added: “The impact of a local holiday company going under may seem less immediate than a pub or football club. But it does matter If companies fail it means reduced competition. That almost inevitably leads to higher prices.”

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, the travel association, tells The Independent:

“We can’t understand why countries with a lower vaccination rate than us are opening much more quickly than we are. We can’t understand why.

“We’d like to see the evidence, the thinking behind that.

“We’d really like to see an announcement that if you’ve been double-vaccinated you don’t need to quarantine. That would be a great boost for confidence for now and for later in the summer. That would get cash coming in to businesses.”

“The traffic light system has different levels of quarantine and testing for different levels of risk.

“We’d like that to be implemented as it was designed, not to overlay it with another prohibition that says, ‘by the way, don’t go on leisure travel to amber countries’.

“Make the traffic light system work, make it transparent.”

Confused about the ever-changing travel rules? Aren’t we all.

To make sense of the chaos, The Independent’s award-winning travel team is on hand for a one-off exclusive event to answer all your most pressing holiday questions.

From the restrictions travellers face at home and abroad to the best advice when it comes to booking a trip, travel editor Cathy Adams and travel correspondent Simon Calder will tackle the most pressing issues.

The Race to the Sun event will be held live over Zoom on 30 June from 6.30-7.30pm.

Click here to find out more.

At the travel industry day of action in Westminster, Jill Waite, director of Pole Travel, tells The Independent’s travel correspondent: “From January to June this year, from my agency, we have had two people travel abroad this year.

“It’s been absolutely horrendous. I don’t think you could imagine. We’ve gone from very successful businesses to having no revenue. We don’t earn any money unless people travel.

“The government have basically stopped travel, and we’ve earned nothing.

“They’ve supported a lot of industries such as hospitality, but they’ve missed out travel. They class as non-essential retail but we’re not, because we haven’t got anything to sell.”

Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat has said that travel restrictions are not just “data decisions” but that they are also “political”.

Speaking at today’s Travel Day of Action event, he told Travel Weekly: “Most people [MPs] realise that this is a hugely important industry both in itself but also as an enabler of so many others.

“We all know that the same plane that carries holidaymakers carries business people and cargo – and if we take away one of these elements it adds to the cost of others.”

“We need to be guided by the science,” he said, adding: “But these are not just data decisions, these are political decisions.”

Mr Tugendhat said decisions on international travel were being made at cabinet level, and MPs like him who backed a safe reopening “need our voices heard better”.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has expressed hope that “the world could open up”, as holidaymakers await an update to the government’s traffic light lists for international travel.

The Cabinet minister told the PA news agency that other countries are “catching up” with the UK’s coronavirus vaccination programme.

But Thursday’s review of the lists which determine the quarantine and testing requirements for people arriving in the UK is expected to be lean for holidaymakers.

Asked about the prospect of restrictions being eased, Mr Shapps said: “I’m optimistic that the world is catching up with where we are in our vaccination programme.

“What happens in the UK is, people say ‘well everyone I know or a lot of people I know are vaccinated’.

“People will say that, but of course as soon as you go abroad you find that’s actually not the case.

“So balancing the opening up whilst preserving people’s safety and security at home is absolutely at the forefront.

“Of course I very much hope the world could open up. We’ve got to follow the data, and that’s what we’ll be doing in the meetings over the next few days.”

Singapore has cut its quarantine for travellers from “high-risk” countries and regions from three weeks to two.

They must administer their own tests on the third, seventh and 11th day after arriving in Singapore.

Every country in the world is on the high-risk list apart from Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, China and New Zealand.

Singapore is currently on the UK’s “green list”, meaning travellers arriving from there aren’t subject to quarantine restrictions and need only take one PCR test rather than two when back in Britain.

Representatives from across the aviation and travel industry came together at Westminster today to put pressure on Government to safely reopen travel for this summer and provide tailored financial support to the sector.

The ‘Travel Day of Action’ sees the coming together of airlines, airports, travel management companies, tour operators, travel agencies, suppliers and partners to call on the government to capitalise on the successful vaccine rollout and reinstate a risk-managed approach around a safe return to international travel in time for the crucial peak summer period.

Supporters of the cross-industry day of action include Abta, Airlines UK, the Airport Operators Association, BAR UK, UKinbound, the Business Travel Association, Iata, Advantage Travel Partnership, and the wider industry under the umbrella Save Future Travel Coalition, alongside unions GMB, Unite, Balpa and Prospect.

Hundreds of airline personnel including pilots, cabin crew and ground staff from major UK airlines including easyJet, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Tui attended the event, along with hundreds of staff and owners of travel agents and tour operators.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of Abta – The Travel Association said: