Does this air bridges announcement mean I can go on holiday abroad now and not have 14 days of lockdown quarantine when I return?
If you are returning to Scotland the short answer is no .
The air bridge plan released late on Thursday night, dropping quarantine rules, only applies to travellers arriving in England.
The devolved governments which are in charge of their own health policy - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - did not agree to the changes which they say were sprung on them without enough consultation.
So if I fly from Glasgow to Spain and back next week I’d have to spend two weeks self-isolating when I get back?
Correct. The easing of the rules starts next Friday, 9th July, but in England only.
That might change in the course of next week but right now if you’re flying in to Scotland in order to prevent the possible inbound transmission of coronavirus you are asked to self-isolate in your home or an address where you can be contacted.
But what if I take the train to Manchester or Newcastle and fly to Spain from there?
In theory there is nothing to stop you doing that and you would face no quarantine restrictions flying back to English airports. You could then drive or train or fly back to Scotland from an English airport and go back to work the same day.
However, Nicola Sturgeon pointed out at her daily briefing that it will not be the case someone can fly into an airport in England and come to Scotland without quarantine.
She said: ”Quarantine regulations in Scotland mean that if you come form an international country even if you come through England you will still have that requirement to quarantine Scotland. Let me be very clear about that.”
What is unclear is how that ruling would be enforced?
Doesn’t this make a mockery of the Scottish quarantine rules?
It is a shambles and the same applies for Wales and Northern Ireland. It is not the first time that the four nations have had different policies on dealing with coronavirus. Masks are compulsory in shops in Scotland, for example, but not in England, but this is a major divergence which affects the holiday plans of thousands of people.
This sounds like someone is playing politics with my holidays. Is this the SNP being different just for the sake of it?
The Scottish government insist they’re not playing independence politics, and the fact that Northern Ireland and Wales are with them would appear to back that up.
Devolved governments are worried about the list of 30 or so “amber” countries added to the air bridge list with only 30 minutes notice before a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the plans.
They want more time to access the potential impact and the scientific advice on opening up to air travel.
Will I get to Spain from Scotland this summer?
There is a big public row between the Scottish and UK government on this, but both sides want it resolved.
Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf signalled this morning that from the Scottish government point of view assessing the situation probably “means taking another couple of days to do that and then coming to, hopefully, some kind of agreement.”
Answering questions on the row Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We’ve actually had very good conversations with all the devolved administrations and I’m sure everybody will work together to make sure people’s holidays to that small list of countries can go ahead.”
It sounds like a compromise will be worked out with devolved governments announcing their plans at their own pace, but the political bad blood will remain.
