While the rules on travelling abroad have recently been made even tougher for Brits, thousands of foreign tourists are arriving in the country every day. Hundreds of these are arriving on tourist visas issued by the Home Office. The Times has more.
One visa was granted to a tourist from Peru who said on their application form that the reason for their trip to the UK was to “visit Big Ben”.
Of the roughly 20,000 people arriving every day about 40%, or 8,000, are tourists, according to figures compiled by Border Force staff.
At Gatwick and the Eurostar terminals, as many as 80 to 90% of arrivals are tourists. In contrast, the proportion of tourists among arrivals at Heathrow is estimated to be about 20 to 30%.
New Covid rules which came into force at the end of last month make it illegal for Brits to go to an airport without a “reasonable” excuse. Rule breakers face fines of £5,000. Lucy Moreton, of the Immigration Services Union, has said that the arrival of thousands of tourists into Britain each day, set alongside this ban on Brits holidaying abroad, is “deeply unfair”.
It causes immense distress to Border Force staff to be constantly granting entry to individuals for reasons that would be impermissible for a UK resident. It’s deeply unfair for staff who cannot visit their own family in the UK or abroad who will be fined for doing so from this week to be seeing these numbers of arrivals of people coming to visit family in the UK, let alone go on holiday in the UK.
Worth reading in full.
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So the government cares more about immigrants and migrants than about its own people. What else is new?
I mean, it’s easy to see why. Government has total power over its people, so it sees them as inferior serfs to be micromanaged and manipulated. But it doesn’t have power over foreign citizens and it also wants to play nice with other countries. Getting another country mad at you has consequences. Abusing your own citizens doesn’t have any consequences because those citizens have surrendered their rights to your whims in exchange for what they thought is safety.
Labour, take note, if you vote against the government on the ID you could get millions of voters back on side
Yes, there is a glaringly open goal-mouth for Starmer if he should choose to go down the democratic route. Who knows, it could even set a precedent for decent behaviour amongst MPs.
{Nope, it will never catch on!}
Ah yes, is this one of those stories where I’m supposed to go ‘Oh look at all these foreigners coming in while our own people are under house arrest!’ then NOPE, that’s not my response anymore. Another usual divide and conquer tactic employed effortlessly over many years. The correct and ONLY response is: There should be no covid-related border restrictions for anyone at any time, full stop! Variants schmariants, total bollocks. 0.03% difference between a given variant and the original ‘sequenced’ virus.
indeed. You can expect the usual ‘Poor Little Englander’ crap – but the real message is that there is no logic whatsoever behind the Covbollocks.
Agree, this is just part of the moral panic that started as soon as the government decreed what was ‘essential’ or ‘non-essential’ in our lives, regardless of whether it was safe or not. When I see that headline I think that at least there will be some tourists to keep some of our hospitality industries going. There is no science to this – our ability to travel will be based in part on percentage vaccinated in the receiving country even though this makes no difference whatsoever to the spread of the virus. It is just sending a message to ‘undervaccinated’ countries that they better get their citizens vaccinated by any means necessary or they won’t be receiving any British tourists.
Build Back Better, and the WEF Great Reset agenda can be summarised in the graphic below.
Take a look at how many airports are left functioning in the UK come 2030? Now do you get what’s rolling atop of those irksome 99%? It’s all for the greater good.
BTW plucky ole Bill bought heavily into private jets recently, that benefit the 1%
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-gates-joins-private-equity-firms-in-4-7-billion-deal-for-private-jet-company-11612534767
He’s always one step-ahead you see.
Rules for thee = none for me
‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?’ – John Lydon 1978
Probably indicates that once a virus is endemic, there is absolutely no bloody point in border controls and the only reason for controls onBrits going abroad is to maintain a state of alarm.
I don’t believe for a nano second that the Border Force gives a rat’s arse about the British public.
The UK populace is explicitly consenting to be prisoners.
Why would tourists want to come on holiday to the UK?
This is bizarre. 8000 tourists arriving every day?
Aren’t all the hotels closed?
The tourist attractions are closed, the museums are closed, the restaurants are closed and most public toilets are closed. Why on earth would anyone want to come here?
On top of all that is the mask mandate. All this is what stopped me from even attempting to go on holiday overseas last summer.
The borders have to be open to allow the wealthy and influential to come and go. You don’t think any of the government or civil service are staying home do you ?