Good idea in February

The Welsh lockdown is only a week old, which is probably not long enough to see a meaningful change in numbers of infections.

What's annoying is that not everyone cares about Christmas, or those of us with little or no families.

Well based on what the PM said it is like March, so just as it was then you can only leave your home for certain reasons. It may be that leaving home to head off on holiday is therefore not one of the reasonable excuses, rather than a ban international travel per se, but of course the effect is the same.

Be useful if someone asked the question though.

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Some bullet points from today's briefing from the Prime Minister. This has happened today as a result of the press reports today (and indeed here FT) speculating on what would have happened on Monday. The PM didn't want this to boil over into Sunday.

- All of England to go into Tier 4 from Thursday 5 November.
- This will last for 4 weeks as an objective (until 2 December), and then depending on infection levels, each part of England (by senior local authority area) will revert to an appropriate tier level.
- Tier 4 means that pubs, restaurants, non-essential shops and businesses will be closed. Hotels will be for essential travellers only. Non essential travel will be restricted, we will need to see the precise wording of the SI. Schools will remain open, higher education institutions will stay open.
- Rule of Six becomes the Rule of Two - and outdoors only - or the size of your household.
- There will be an overiding premise that non essential travel should stop, specifically for leisure purposes, other than household exercise. The idea is that people stay at home except for essential purposes.
- The Travel Corridor system seems moribund for new UK travellers since non essential travel is now restricted. Someone returning to the UK will be OK to use Travel Corridors but only if they did not leave England after Thursday. Travel is allowed for business travel and with it the Travel Corridors, but Tier 4 will stop much of white collar travel anyway.
- Discussions are going on with the Home Office for connecting intenrational passengers - HMG will want this to continue but there is a definition issue here so I wouldn't assume this will be OK unless it's for essential purposes.

I haven't seen any documents or briefings specifically advising against or prohibiting international leisure travel, we will need to wait a day or two to find out. My guess is that guidelines will prohibit international leisure travel but the law may not specifically say that. I know the travel industry is DMing the Transport Secretary at the moment.

if the law is frames as "don�t leave your house without a reasonable excuse" it is unlikely leaving home to go on holiday will be seen as one, in which case it will have the effect of banning leisure travel anyway.

That would be my expectation too. However on the basis that "reasonable" means "rational", what if you had a pre-booked, pre-paid holiday and only had this week when you could take the holiday? Then the visiting friends and family argument could also get difficult. Hence I suspect we will continue to have stronger guidelines and weaker legislation, but we will have to see how the Travel Corridor system will now work in this new framework.

You could still be put through the mill on your return since after a few weeks the PLF will make it clear that you have been travelling. What we didn't see mentioned today - I was told the wording was removed - was about enforcement generally. Previous such statements have had a few sentences about fines and the role of the police.

Possible ray of sunshine: the increased rollout of rapid testing? This would fit in with the Taskforce looking at this, but it would seem out of step with the stay at home message.

What about inbound international travelers (not UK residents)? I didn't get anything from the press conf that would clarify that. What if I'm visiting friends / family in the UK, quarantining with them for the duration of my stay, and then departing? Not sure if that falls into "leisure". Could also argue that then departing the UK is "essential" in a sense as I'd need to get home and don't want to be stranded there. Need to see exact wording of these regulations as I have a trip to London planned for next weekend...

as soon as they are published i will post and try and summarise the details. i think the plan is to publish them on monday or tuesday.

I don't think you are supposed to quarantine "with them", you are supposed to quarantine and stay away from them even if you are in their house and then see them if you remain long enough - although that may have to be outdoors when the details are clearer.
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...avel-to-the-uk
See the bit about:

• your own home
• staying with friends or family
• a hotel or other temporary accommodation

Although there is no practical enforcement - which, I suspect, is why so much of this goes wrong!

So you are coming to the UK to quarantine in your family's house... I'm not sure many would agree that that is quarantining unless you were actually not going to see them....
A certain political aid had the same argument about quarantining with family during the first lockdown and we know what the popular opinion on that was!

If you are not a British, EU/EEA or Swiss citizen or family member of one, you may be denied entry into the UK (at least into England based on these upcoming changes, while it may be ok to visit Wales, Scotland and/or NI if those areas are not under a stay-at-home order). It was reported that this happened to some people who tried to visit in the March-May period.