Entering the UK

Mark_GT

Well-known member
I see the UK entry requirement to be in possession of a negative test has been hastily put forward to next Monday instead of Friday. Queue a stampede of people returning or arriving from all points with no checks. Surely in the current situation we should not be worrying about the inconvenience to anyone who has gone abroad and wants to return, or to anyone who wants to come to the UK from abroad. No wonder we're in the shit 😗
 
I see the UK entry requirement to be in possession of a negative test has been hastily put forward to next Monday instead of Friday. Queue a stampede of people returning or arriving from all points with no checks. Surely in the current situation we should not be worrying about the inconvenience to anyone who has gone abroad and wants to return, or to anyone who wants to come to the UK from abroad. No wonder we're in the shit 😗
Its actually been pushed back from this Friday to next Monday.
 
I confess to be a bit ITK on this. The issue is two-fold.

Firstly the Dept of Transport has moved the governance of this to the individual transport providers (Airlines, Shipping, Trains) instead of the UK Border Force. There are several reasons for this, mainly the Border Force is severely undermanned and would not be able to cope. Now, imagine all the airlines for example that fly to the UK. They each need to have something in place (and they do not know what yet) at the point of departure which btw could be anywhere in the world that does not have a flight ban to the UK. On top of this, they will be fined £4k for each passenger that arrives without the required test

Secondly, the DofT has not, to date been precisely clear on what evidence of what test is required. For example, does it have to be in English? Is there and age limit (ie Under 5's) and what type of test is actually required. At the moment this is not clear.

It's a mess and I'll resist making the point that they have had 9 plus months to think about it
 
I see the UK entry requirement to be in possession of a negative test has been hastily put forward to next Monday instead of Friday. Queue a stampede of people returning or arriving from all points with no checks. Surely in the current situation we should not be worrying about the inconvenience to anyone who has gone abroad and wants to return, or to anyone who wants to come to the UK from abroad. No wonder we're in the shit 😗
It could only happen in the UK what an absolute bunch of idiots run this country.
 
I confess to be a bit ITK on this. The issue is two-fold.

Firstly the Dept of Transport has moved the governance of this to the individual transport providers (Airlines, Shipping, Trains) instead of the UK Border Force. There are several reasons for this, mainly the Border Force is severely undermanned and would not be able to cope. Now, imagine all the airlines for example that fly to the UK. They each need to have something in place (and they do not know what yet) at the point of departure which btw could be anywhere in the world that does not have a flight ban to the UK. On top of this, they will be fined £4k for each passenger that arrives without the required test

Secondly, the DofT has not, to date been precisely clear on what evidence of what test is required. For example, does it have to be in English? Is there and age limit (ie Under 5's) and what type of test is actually required. At the moment this is not clear.

It's a mess and I'll resist making the point that they have had 9 plus months to think about it
Once again, policy being drafted on the hoof at the very last minute. Still, they've only had since March last year, and technically, since 23 June 2016 when we knew we'd get control of our own borders.
 
Typical of the chaotic approach

Surely it would be far simpler to test everyone at the point of entry ( teachers are now doing tests twice a week that give you a result in 20 mins ) and warn anyone that travels that if they test positive on arrival they will be subject to compulsory quarantine in a govt hotel for 10 days
 
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Typical of the chaotic approach

Surely it would be far simpler to test everyone at the point one entry ( teachers are now doing tests twice a week that give you a result in 20 mins ) and warn anyone that travels that if they test positive on arrival they will be subject to compulsory quarantine in a govt hotel for 10 days
To a degree i agree TAM. The main ethos on travelling is that is the travellers responsibility to understand the travel rules for the country they are entering. That's ok if you have Internet access and read and understand English for those heading to the UK.
The other issue is that the Border Force, at Heathrow for example, do not want to (or are able to) handle a load of folk who rock up at the UK border without the correct paperwork
 
To a degree i agree TAM. The main ethos on travelling is that is the travellers responsibility to understand the travel rules for the country they are entering. That's ok if you have Internet access and read and understand English for those heading to the UK.
The other issue is that the Border Force, at Heathrow for example, do not want to (or are able to) handle a load of folk who rock up at the UK border without the correct paperwork
As a former Border Force Officer I can only agree with this. I think if people knew how thin the line on the border was they’d be shocked.

If there is a mass of people without the correct paper work I can see them ‘bailing’ them to an address in the country with a stern warning to quarantine during this time, a fudge in other words. They do this with a worryingly high number of people found to not be acceptable to the UK, due to lack of numbers to process them or detection space.

If it wasn’t so serious it’s be funny how badly run the whole thing is.
 
Pity they didn't chuck some of the resources allocated to paying vastly over the odds for the huge PPE mountain we now own and / or the Track and Trace debacle at resourcing something that would actually make a difference
 
Pity they didn't chuck some of the resources allocated to paying vastly over the odds for the huge PPE mountain we now own and / or the Track and Trace debacle at resourcing something that would actually make a difference
The Public Inquiry Report when issued will be a very interesting read and could be a best seller as there has been so many errors of judgement across many aspects. I assume it will be a good few years away though due to the complexity of the situation.
 
Typical of the chaotic approach

Surely it would be far simpler to test everyone at the point one entry ( teachers are now doing tests twice a week that give you a result in 20 mins ) and warn anyone that travels that if they test positive on arrival they will be subject to compulsory quarantine in a govt hotel for 10 days
TAM the tests being done in schools aren’t very reliable. I know of one school that has done a few hundred tests that have all come out negative. Several have gone to a testing station for a second test and they’ve been positive.
I’ve also heard that several thousand of those tests done in Leicestershire have all come out negative. I can’t confirm that one though
 
To a degree i agree TAM. The main ethos on travelling is that is the travellers responsibility to understand the travel rules for the country they are entering. That's ok if you have Internet access and read and understand English for those heading to the UK.
The other issue is that the Border Force, at Heathrow for example, do not want to (or are able to) handle a load of folk who rock up at the UK border without the correct paperwork
EU seem to manage it by not letting anyone in.
 
TAM the tests being done in schools aren’t very reliable. I know of one school that has done a few hundred tests that have all come out negative. Several have gone to a testing station for a second test and they’ve been positive.
I’ve also heard that several thousand of those tests done in Leicestershire have all come out negative. I can’t confirm that one though
Underlined by reports today that the MHRA has refused to authorise daily testing in schools
 
As I understand it the issue is that quick testing can throw up false positives - and that usually arises from increased levels of anti-bodies in those who have already had the virus

It doesn’t seen to throw up false negatives

The margin of error is 1:5 of positive results

I’d suggest that in the short term that’s a price worth paying pending a second test - particularly as those coming into the country are supposedly required to self-isolate anyway

As the arrivals aren’t subject to any real monitoring you are left wondering what the levels of compliance are

So in simple terms I’m saying those who test positive shoul required to stay at a govt approved hotel close to the airport for their isolation period

Of course a traditional test taken after 5 days to shorten the quarantine period

They’ve done this in other countries
 
France has the same requirements as the UK. A negative test result within 72 hours of arriving. Not sure about other EU countries.
 
Only those with perishable goods? I thought it was the fault of the French?
Sorry what do you mean about perishable goods and the fault of the French? I was just quoting the entry requirements for France which appear to be the same as the UK. Have we gone off on a tangent?
 
Sorry what do you mean about perishable goods and the fault of the French? I was just quoting the entry requirements for France which appear to be the same as the UK. Have we gone off on a tangent?
Probably. Blame was put squarely on Macron's shoulders by some for the inability of the fishing industry to get their produce to Europe.
 
Unless they get something workable in place, there won't be an airline/airport/travel industry left.
A report yesterday on Granada Reports said that Liverpool airport would normally be seeing 65-80 flights per day at this time of the year..... they're currently flying about 8.
That is simply unsustainable for another year.
The gross incompetence has to end, with more proactive instead of reactive decisions, resulting in some sort of plan being put in place to get us out of this mess.
 
I see the UK entry requirement to be in possession of a negative test has been hastily put forward to next Monday instead of Friday. Queue a stampede of people returning or arriving from all points with no checks. Surely in the current situation we should not be worrying about the inconvenience to anyone who has gone abroad and wants to return, or to anyone who wants to come to the UK from abroad. No wonder we're in the shit 😗
Were the laughing stock of the world when it comes to enforcing border control.
 
As I understand it the issue is that quick testing can throw up false positives - and that usually arises from increased levels of anti-bodies in those who have already had the virus

It doesn’t seen to throw up false negatives

The margin of error is 1:5 of positive results

I’d suggest that in the short term that’s a price worth paying pending a second test - particularly as those coming into the country are supposedly required to self-isolate anyway

As the arrivals aren’t subject to any real monitoring you are left wondering what the levels of compliance are

So in simple terms I’m saying those who test positive shoul required to stay at a govt approved hotel close to the airport for their isolation period

Of course a traditional test taken after 5 days to shorten the quarantine period

They’ve done this in other countries
Reports suggest false negatives are common, half of the cases were missed during rapid testing in Liverpool.
 
Greece for example have been allowing flights in with 72 hour test for all incoming passengers (written in English) since at least the beginning of November.

If you arrive at the airport of departure without the test you don’t get on the aircraft.

If there are only 8 flights into Liverpool as mentioned above then The Border Force or persons looking at the test paper with the passport can’t be overwhelmed can they.
 
Reports suggest false negatives are common, half of the cases were missed during rapid testing in Liverpool.
I was basing my observations on this

 
I was basing my observations on this

The whole idea of mass testing is controversial.
False positives mean people isolating unnecessarily. False negatives mean they are wandering around with covid.

Anyhow, here's a link to the POSTnote which does have various confusing/conflicting statements due to genuine uncertainty. One thing that stands out is a potential for a quarter of people to have a false negative result or even worse.

 
If there are only 8 flights into Liverpool as mentioned above then The Border Force or persons looking at the test paper with the passport can’t be overwhelmed can they.

8 flights a day with on average I’d say 200 people on.

If for example 50% of those come without the required testing (just a guess but a reasonable one I think) that’s 800 people the officers at Liverpool would have to sort out, processing the paper work, holding the people somewhere contacting the relevant people etc etc. When refusing a person entry to the UK in a straightforward case it would take around 6 hours. I’m not sure what the procedures are for a non tested person but I imagine they’re not that simple.

The odd shift I did at Liverpool there were 6 of us working there for 12 hours.

6 people to deal with 800 cases and still process the other Passengers and try to carry out customs and immigration checks.

With the best will in the world it’s impossible.

Even if my estimates are a bit too high here, Liverpool would struggle to cope with more than 5 or 6 people a day without a test. Manchester is larger but that couldn’t handle more that 15 a day, you get my thinking.

Successive Governments for the past 25 years have cared less and less about our borders, resulting in the state they’re in now.
 
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8 flights a day with on average I’d say 200 people on.

If for example 50% of those come without the required testing (just a guess but a reasonable one I think) that’s 800 people the officers at Liverpool would have to sort out, processing the paper work, holding the people somewhere contacting the relevant people etc etc. When refusing a person entry to the UK in a straightforward case it would take around 6 hours. I’m not sure what the procedures are for a non tested person but I imagine they’re not that simple.

The odd shift I did at Liverpool there were 6 of us working there for 12 hours.

6 people to deal with 800 cases and still process the other Passengers and try to carry out customs and immigration checks.

With the best will in the world it’s impossible.

Even if my estimates are a bit too high here, Liverpool would struggle to cope with more than 5 or 6 people a day without a test. Manchester is larger but that couldn’t handle more that 15 a day, you get my thinking.

Successive Governments for the past 25 years have cared less and less about our borders, resulting in the state they’re in now.


There won’t be anyone arriving without a test.

The standard procedure is arrive at the airport with your test result or you don’t get on the aircraft. Let’s keep it simple please.

You also sign a “Location Document” that will have a QR code/scan code

As I say it’s standard in some countries
 
“All arrivals in Greece, including Greek citizens and permanent residents, must provide a negative test result. This must have been taken within 72 hours of departure, must be written in English and include the name and passport number of the person traveling. This does not apply to children under 10. For full details of the laboratories accepted, see here.
Travelers from the UK must also have a rapid test on arrival in Greece.
All travelers must complete a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) prior to departure. This includes details of where the individual has been and the address they plan to stay at in Greece. Each PLF includes a unique QR code which must be scanned upon arrival at the Greek border.
The QR code will tell you whether you need to have an additional test done at the airport. If you do, you must self-isolate until you have the results -- around 24 hours.”

You would present your test and PLF documents with your passport as per the above. No need for any delays at Customs at all.
 
There won’t be anyone arriving without a test.

The standard procedure is arrive at the airport with your test result or you don’t get on the aircraft. Let’s keep it simple please.

You also sign a “Location Document” that will have a QR code/scan code

As I say it’s standard in some countries
Fair enough then but everyone’s supposed to enter the country legally with a passport but not everyone does.
 
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