The UK government is set to scrap the rule that states travellers need a PCR test to enter Britain.
Cheaper lateral flow tests are expected to be accepted instead.
Britain’s transport secretary offered hope to millions of Britons planning to travel abroad this winter and those wishing to head to the UK by promising an announcement on changes to the PCR test rule “in the coming days”.
Grant Shapps suggested less expensive lateral flow tests could replace PCRs in time for half-term later this month, saving the average family about £200 per trip.
It comes after the UK government announced major changes to the red list on Thursday, slashing the number of countries they discourage travel to down to seven.
Mr Shapps said the decision was a major development for the travel industry, which has long called on ministers to ease restrictions to help airlines return to a somewhat normal schedule.
Speaking on Sky News on Friday, Mr Shapps said the government would be making another announcement soon, this time on a change to PCR test rules.
And he confirmed that a photo of a lateral flow test cassette would be required for people to obtain their results, quashing reports that suggested a video of the test being taken would be needed.
“We want to get this done for half-term for people,” he said.
“I know my colleagues over at Health [Department] and, to a certain extent, the Home Office - they’re the people who will have to implement this change – are working extremely hard on getting this done and so we anticipate having it ready for the half-term.
“And what a difference it will make for people rather than do things like send off the test and wait for the result. As people will be familiar with the lateral flow, you read it on the cassette there and then it shows your result within a few minutes and much, much easier, much less expensive as well.”
In Britain, the average price tag attached to a PCR test is £75, while lateral flow tests sell for as little as £25.
The latter does not require postage of a swab, and people are only required to send a photo of their negative result to the manufacturer for verification.
Half-term, which typically runs from Friday, October 22, to Monday, November 1, was a popular time for Britons with schoolchildren to head abroad. Covid-19 has changed that.
Mr Shapps told BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme the change could not be implemented until ministers are sure there will be enough lateral flow tests on the market to meet demand.
“The important part of this is making sure that the industry itself is able to provide the tests,” he said.
“It’s quite a big switch for them, from supplying hundreds of thousands of PCR tests to providing those lateral flow tests instead.”
He said the government had kept the day-two PCR test rule, despite pressure from travel bosses to drop it, because initially lateral flow test were not as effective in detecting Covid-19.
But the transport secretary said “the sensitivity and specificity has improved on those tests” and he is confident they will be a suitable replacement for the more expensive PCR tests.
Recent changes to travel rules, including the reduction of nations on the red list, have boosted winter destinations such as Mexico, South Africa and Brazil.
They are among 47 countries that will be removed from the no-go list from 4am on Monday.
Travellers arriving from those destinations will no longer need to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of £2,285 per person.
Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela remain on the red list.
The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own travel rules but have recently mirrored announcements made in Westminster.
Mr Schapps also said the reopening of travel routes between the UK and the US would be a much-welcome boost for the industry.
He said no specific date in November has been set for America to fully lift restrictions for visitors from Britain. He said he had spoken about the topic with the US ambassador in recent days and said officials across the pond are “still working through the technicalities of that”.
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
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THE BIO
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
THE SPECS
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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