TSSA Slams Government Over Quarantine Regime Dither & Delay

TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has urged the Government to end the "dither and delay" and provide action now for the travel trade.

The move comes after Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, indicated he was hopeful the current 14 days of self-isolation required for most UK arrivals could be almost halved by the beginning of December.

Cortes said: “Waiting another six weeks before we see a change in the quarantine regime is yet more dither and delay from this Tory Government which is fond of promising jam tomorrow.

“We need action now to kickstart our travel sector which has been so badly hit by this pandemic. This must go well beyond a system which reduces testing or any self-isolation period.

“It’s almost two weeks since Shapps launched what he called a ‘Global Travel Task Force’ and since then we have seen nothing which suggests Ministers understand that wider support measures, including a dedicated Minister for Travel, are needed to save thousands of jobs in the sector.

“Our union welcomes anything which might provide travellers with clarity while at the same time assisting public confidence. However, we already know that far too many travel businesses have gone to the wall and many of our members have lost their jobs.

“What’s needed now is proper long-term support to tackle this crisis head on. I stand ready to offer Ministers help in this matter.”