Grant Shapps has become the first senior UK politician to break ranks and declare he is taking a summer holiday abroad this year.
The transport secretary said he and his wife, Belinda, had decided to take advantage of the relaxation of Foreign Office guidance on non-essential overseas travel.
“My wife looked at all of these new changes that were made and has now booked a break for the first time for a couple of years,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Senior politicians had previously been queuing up to indicate they would be staying in the UK after the coronavirus pandemic threw international travel plans into disarray.
Boris Johnson, who spent the new year in the Caribbean with his partner Carrie Symonds, said this week he would be holidaying in the UK.
“This country is uniquely blessed with fantastic places to holiday, whether coastal or otherwise. And I am certainly going to be doing that, but I won’t necessarily tell you where at this stage,” he told reporters on Monday.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, have also chosen to enjoy the attractions of the UK. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said as far back as May that he would be remaining in the UK.
Shapps had previously warned that anyone booking a holiday for August would be taking a chance, but he told the Today programme: “Of course, since that time the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been able to change their travel advice.
“We have established air bridges or international travel corridors to a number of different countries allowing that to happen. These are personal choices but we have issued guidance now for airlines to ensure that people can travel in a Covid-safe manner as well. So there is much more structure in place now as we approach the summer.”
The Link LonkJuly 18, 2020 at 09:00PM
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Grant Shapps breaks ranks to book summer holiday abroad - The Guardian
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