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Thread on Gov’s chicanery to bamboozle the public on holidays h/t @alexwickham
Jan 17: Raab people should not be booking holidays yet: “I think ATM it’s too early. Until we’re in a position to give the reassurance, I think it’s v difficult to plan.” https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/too-early-brits-book-summer-holidays-dominic-raab/
Jan 17: Raab people should not be booking holidays yet: “I think ATM it’s too early. Until we’re in a position to give the reassurance, I think it’s v difficult to plan.” https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/too-early-brits-book-summer-holidays-dominic-raab/
Jan 18: Matt Hancock completely contradicted Raab: “I’m going to Cornwall. And I have said before I think we’re going to have a great British summer.” His remarks led to hotels and holiday companies urging people to book for the summer ASAP … https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2021/jan/18/great-british-summer-matt-hancock-cautions-against-booking-holidays-abroad-video
Jan 26: Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi then directly contradicted Hancock, telling Sky News he “absolutely” wouldn’t be booking a summer holiday yet as it was “far too early” to do so. https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1389033/holidays-booking-holiday-travel-summer-2021-vaccine-minister-warning
Jan 31: Optimistic 
Hancock doubled down, telling BBC Politics East: “In six months we’ll be in the middle, I hope, of a happy and free Great British summer.” https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13903872/summer-holiday-hopes-travel-ban-future-covid/
Jan 31: The same day, Liz Truss shot Hancock down, insists quarantine measures and restrictions on travel would be in place for foreseeable future, and that “it would be very dangerous for govt minister to make promises about people’s summer holidays.” https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13903872/summer-holiday-hopes-travel-ban-future-covid/
Feb 1: On a visit to Yorkshire, Boris Johnson was asked whether the U.K. could have a “happy and free summer,” and said “I am optimistic” about the prospect of summer holidays, with the caveat that the vaccination program had to go well. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/13911372/boris-johnson-optimistic-summer-holidays-vaccine/
February 10, 8 a.m.: Transport Secretary Grant Shapps contradicted Hancock on the BBC’s Today program, warning: “People shouldn’t be booking holidays right now, not domestically or internationally.”
February 10, midday: Asked about the conflicting advice at the daily Lobby briefing, the prime minister’s official spokesperson produced another line, saying the decision on whether to book a holiday was “a choice for individuals.”
Feb 10, 5pm: PM stressed it was illegal to go on holiday either at home or abroad and seemed to strike a more cautious tone: “I am afraid it is just too early for people to be certain about what we’ll be able to do this summer.” Laura Kuenssberg caught reacting on 
https://twitter.com/johnestevens/status/1359552890629738496
Feb 10, 5 p.m.: At the exact same time as the PM’s presser, Hancock inexplicably once again told Tory MPs on a Zoom call that he’d booked a trip to Cornwall, and shared jokes with Devon MPs who wanted him to holiday in their constituencies https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/coronavirus-holiday-matt-hancock-lockdown_uk_60241fdec5b6f38d06e8f51d
Today’s Sun accuses ministers of “flip flopping” and “plunging summer holiday plans into chaos with mixed messages.” https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14013799/ministers-summer-holiday-chaos-mixed-messages/
Mail calls it a “farce” and says ministers are bickering.Charles Walker: “We had summer holidays last year when we didn’t have a vaccine. Now we’ve got vaccines coming out of our ears, we are told, ‘Don’t book a summer holiday’ for crying out loud.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56008363
Pro Lockdown Sage prof John Edmunds warned @itvpeston that if all schools are reopened on March 8 then 
would be “very lucky to keep R below 1.”
He also warned that the new Bristol variant could reinfect people who have already been infected or vaccinated. https://twitter.com/itvpeston/status/1359630498264477704
would be “very lucky to keep R below 1.”He also warned that the new Bristol variant could reinfect people who have already been infected or vaccinated. https://twitter.com/itvpeston/status/1359630498264477704
