Oral Answers to Questions

Virendra Sharma Excerpts

Thursday 29th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to prepare for the safe reopening of international travel as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the safe operation of international travel as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

[Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to prepare for the safe reopening of international travel as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Sharma [V]]

Constituents have come to me raising the issue of queues at airports. There are long waits, no food and drinks, and nowhere to sit, in some cases for five hours. There is totally inadequate social distancing, and arrivals from safe destinations and from red list countries are forced into the same queues all mixed together. Heathrow Airport has been clear that Border Force is the problem. What conversations has the Secretary of State had with his counterpart in the Home Office about fixing this fiasco?

[Grant Shapps]

I should remind the hon. Gentleman and the House that people should not be travelling right now. In fact, they cannot travel right now without a very exceptional reason indeed, because people have to stay at home—stay domestically. However, it is the case that Border Force is checking every single person who enters the country to make sure that they have completed the pre-departure test and the locator form to say where they will be. I am afraid that, at the moment, that inevitably creates some queues. As we move towards the unlocking of international travel, we will be addressing this issue not least through beginning to automate the e-gates with the pre-departure form.