Travelers at London Heathrow Airport, December 20.
Photographer: Sid Philips / Bloomberg
Photographer: Sid Philips / Bloomberg
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The UK fell into Christmas chaos when police were deployed to stop people from boarding crowded trains, canceling holidays abroad and banning Europe from traveling with the country after London fell into an emergency stop.
In a sudden turnaround, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson canceled plans to allow families to see each other during the festive season, as the government warned that a new form of the coronavirus was “out of control”. There were panic scenes at train stations, with people defying social aloofness rules to leave the capital before the new rules took effect on Sunday.
More than 16 million Britons now have to stay at home after new restrictions took effect in London and South East England on Sunday. The measures prohibit the mixing of households in the capital and the Southeast, and limit socializing to Christmas Day only in the rest of England.
France and Germany, along with Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium, are considering banning air and rail connections with the UK, which is in the midst of delicate and critical Brexit negotiations with its partners in the European Union. The talks were expected to be one breakthrough this weekend.
For many Britons, who are either trying to see family members or go on a winter holiday, the situation is reminiscent of the last nationwide lockdown and will raise concerns that even with a vaccine the virus is still dangerous, if not so deadly. It is also just the latest turn of a government that has been reluctant to impose movement restrictions unless forced. Until Friday, Johnson was adamant that close households could mingle over Christmas.
Busy airports
While London’s Heathrow Airport was busy on Sunday morning as dozens of planes took off, a KLM service to Amsterdam at 11:45 a.m. left empty, a spokeswoman for the hub said, while two subsequent British Airways flights to the Dutch city were found to be canceled. . Most of the other operations were found to be on schedule.
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The bans are very concerning, the spokeswoman said. Heathrow has just had one of the busiest weeks since the first UK lockdown as people fleeing until Christmas, and there are still large numbers due to travel, she added.
A spokesman for Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam said the planes arriving from London on Sunday were essentially empty. Deutsche Lufthansa AG has canceled crew stops in the UK and is considering further action, a spokesman said.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said more UK transport police will be dispatched to prevent people from making unnecessary trips out of London.
“Please don’t come to a station unless you have permission to travel,” Shapps said in a statement. “Additional UK transport policemen are being deployed to ensure that only those who need to make essential journeys can travel safely,” he said after videos of people fleeing the capital spread on social media.
London’s Metropolitan Police is also increasing patrols, prioritizing areas of the capital with high traffic, as well as areas where the virus is spreading rapidly, the paper said. statement. “At this critical time for the city, agents across London will be paying particular attention to those groups who have willfully ignored the rules, endangering communities and lives,” he said.
Agents are deployed at airports “as part of routine security and policing,” a Met Police spokesperson said.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge earlier this morning that it is more important than ever that people are accountable and not only obey the rules, but also minimize all social contacts because “this is deadly serious. “.
– With help from Kitty Donaldson, Layan Odeh, Anthony Palazzo and Siddharth Vikram Philip