Boris Johnson was accused of “ignoring Sage advice” at Prime Minister’s Questions after a leaked report called on ministers to toughen up travel restrictions to combat the Omicron variant.
The report warned the Omicron variant could spark a “very large wave” of infections and urged the prime minister to impose “very stringent rules” to curb its spread.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said that Mr Johnson had refused to follow the recommendations of his own advisers by refusing to introduce pre-departure tests for those arriving in the UK.
Official notes from the Sage meeting on November 29, seen by the BBC, claim a wave of cases would “in turn lead to a potentially high number of hospitalisations even with protection against severe disease being less affected.”
Mr Johnson responded: “This country was the first to respond to the variant with travel bans. As for the countries that are seeding the Omicron variant, we’ve put them on the red list.”
Ministers have insisted that there is no need to cancel Christmas plans despite the spread of the variant, with health secretary Sajid Javid instead urging Britons to take a test before attending parties.
