Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said he recognised a “natural desire to go further and to go faster” with the road map but the Government’s priority is to make changes when “safe” to do so.
Asked why the international travel traffic light system had not yet been announced, he told Sky News: “I get that a lot of people over the course of the last year or so have missed travelling, they have missed seeing family and loved ones – I totally, totally get that.
“I understand the desire to move forward as quickly as possible but we have always said we will do this at a pace that is safe, that gives the scientists enough time to properly analyse the data after each set of restrictions are lifted.
“I know that there will be a natural desire to go further and to go faster but the priority of the Government has always been to make these changes at a pace that is safe to do so.”
Mr Cleverly said the Government wanted the road map out of coronavirus lockdown to be a “one-way system” but that science would continue to be the “guiding force”.
“We’ve always said that we want to get this move back to normality, we want it to be a one-way system,” he said, speaking on Times Radio.
“We want things to improve so we’re going to take things cautiously, we’re going to make sure the decisions are driven by science and we will unlock in a way that is safe.
“We’ve already seen internationally that the coronavirus situation can change and can change quickly so it’s not about going backwards.”
On the topic of foreign travel, he added: “The policy is set, the philosophy that underpins it has been decided and the science will be the guiding force for which countries will be on the red, amber or green lists.”
