Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they did not close the UK’s borders in March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic; and what assessment they have made of the impact of not closing the borders on the spread of COVID-19 in the UK.

HMG decisions throughout the pandemic have been guided by the science, including with measures taken at the border over the last year. We are now in a completely different position to where we were at the start of the pandemic in terms of our awareness of the disease and of the new variants identified across the globe, such as in Brazil and South Africa.

Any decisions on borders must also consider the need to keep vital supply routes open, especially freight traffic across the Short Straights and to the Republic of Ireland via the UK Land Bridge.