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The Transport Secretary has today (7 September 2020) announced the introduction of a more targeted approach to travel corridors by separating some islands from mainland countries. This means an area that presents a higher or lower public health risk to UK travellers can be assessed separately to the rest of the country.
The existing country-based approach to travel corridors has protected lives by reducing the risk of importing new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases into the UK.
The Joint Biosecurity Centre has now been commissioned to assess the most popular island destinations for British tourists.
The first changes under the new process were also made today, with 7 Greek islands to be removed from exemption list:
People arriving in England from those islands from 4am Wednesday 9 September will need to self-isolate for 2 weeks. Data from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England has indicated a significant risk to UK public health from those islands, leading to ministers removing them from the current list of travel corridors.
At the same time, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice for Greece to advise against all but essential travel to Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos. The rest of Greece remains exempt from the FCDO’s advice against all non-essential international travel.
The new, more targeted process will allow government to continue to respond quickly to threats of imported cases while minimising wider disruption to passengers and the travel industry.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:
Our top priority has always been to keep domestic infection rates down, and today we’re taking the next step in our approach. Through the use of enhanced data we will now be able to pinpoint risk in some of the most popular islands, providing increased flexibility to add or remove them – distinct from the mainland – as infection rates change.
This development will help boost the UK’s travel industry while continuing to maintain maximum protection to public health, keeping the travelling public safe.
Announcements on which islands and countries will be added or removed will continue to be made as part of the current weekly process.
It is not considered safe to implement a fully regional system for international travel corridors – there is too much movement between high risk and lower risk regions within single countries and regional health information is not sufficiently reliable. However, when a region has natural boundaries – like an island – the risks reduce.
Any changes will only apply to land that has a clear boundary or border where there is robust, reliable and internationally comparable data available. The island must also have direct flights to the UK or at a minimum, transport must have taken place through exempt territories.
The government has made consistently clear it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus, including removing destinations from the travel corridors list rapidly if the public health risk becomes too high.
Holidaymakers may find they need to self-isolate on return to the UK and are advised to consider the implications of self-isolation on them and their families before making any travel plans. It is very important that people with symptoms of or a positive COVID-19 test and their household members stay at home. Staying at home will help prevent the spread of the virus to family, friends, the wider community, and particularly those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
News story
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Prime Minister spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron earlier today.
They discussed the shared challenge of illegal small boat crossings from France to the UK. The Prime Minister set out that the UK’s aim is to stop the smuggling operations and prevent boats arriving on our shores, and they agreed to work together in a spirit of cooperation to address the issue.
The Prime Minister and President Macron expressed their outrage at the attack on Alexey Navalny and reiterated that Russia must urgently explain how the opposition leader was poisoned with Novichok.
They also discussed UK-French cooperation on tackling coronavirus and on other international issues, including the crises in Libya and Lebanon and the Middle East peace process. The Prime Minister offered his condolences for French casualties in Mali this weekend.
On the negotiations to reach a trade deal with the European Union, the Prime Minister and President Macron agreed on the importance of making progress this month and reaching a conclusion on talks quickly.
Published 7 September 2020
Natural England has licensed and authorised 11 new badger control areas to begin operations in 2020. It has also authorised the licence holders to resume operations in 33 existing badger control areas in 2020. Licence holders met all the criteria specified in Defra’s guidance to Natural England, dated August 2020.
Natural England has reissued the Annex A for 3 licences due to a change to their control areas as licensed in 2019. These areas were 34-Cheshire, 37-Devon and 40-Herefordshire.
It has also reissued the Annex B for all existing licences from area 11 to area 43 (inclusive). This follows a review of the conditions relating to licensed actions on or around protected sites.
Table 1: Badger control areas authorised in 2020
| Area number and county | Minimum number | Maximum number | Authorisation date | Year of operations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area 11 – Cheshire | 228 | 514 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 12 – Devon | None | 416 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 13 – Devon | 86 | 617 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 14 – Devon | None | 328 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 15 – Devon | 306 | 542 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 16 – Dorset | 691 | 2321 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 17 – Somerset | 356 | 993 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 18 – Somerset | 108 | 360 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 19 – Wiltshire | 50 | 1067 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 20 – Wiltshire | 217 | 657 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 21 – Wiltshire | 625 | 1266 | 28 August 2020 | Year 4 |
| Area 22 – Cornwall | 216 | 1716 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 23 – Devon | 1505 | 2824 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 24 – Devon | None | 294 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 25 – Devon | 402 | 897 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 26 – Devon | 590 | 1104 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 27 – Devon | 9 | 127 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 28 – Devon | 34 | 299 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 29 – Gloucestershire | 185 | 890 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 30 – Somerset | 1063 | 2660 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 31 – Staffordshire | 1397 | 3516 | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 32 – Cumbria | N/A | N/A | 28 August 2020 | Year 3 |
| Area 33 – Avon | 226 | 650 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 34 – Cheshire | 1127 | 1939 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 35 – Cornwall | 1665 | 3128 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 36 – Staffordshire | 724 | 1272 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 37 – Devon | None | 366 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 38 – Devon | 1570 | 2696 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 39 – Dorset | 175 | 472 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 40 – Herefordshire | 719 | 1629 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 41 – Staffordshire | 149 | 727 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 42 – Wiltshire | 2310 | 4141 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 43 – Wiltshire | 1058 | 1846 | 28 August 2020 | Year 2 |
| Area 44 – Avon | 1514 | 2053 | 28 August 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 45 – Derbyshire | 2054 | 2785 | 28 August 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 46 – Gloucestershire | 599 | 812 | 28 August 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 47 – Herefordshire | 1505 | 2040 | 28 August 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 48 – Leicestershire | 1059 | 1435 | 3 September 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 49 – Oxfordshire | 1640 | 2223 | 2 September 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 50 – Shropshire | 4187 | 5676 | 28 August 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 51 – Somerset | 1636 | 2218 | 28 August 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 52 – Warwickshire | 1640 | 2223 | 3 September 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 53 – Wiltshire | 677 | 918 | 28 August 2020 | Year 1 |
| Area 54 – Lincolnshire | N/A | N/A | 4 September 2020 | Year 1 |
Licence holders carry out operations under a 4-year licence. This allows badger control to take place in the licensed control area every year between 1 June and 31 January inclusive.
The licence holder will decide the start date for control operations within this period.
Natural England has confirmed to the licence holders the minimum and maximum numbers of badgers they can remove.
Protected sites listed in the Annex Bs are not necessarily part of any active operations. These can and will only occur on protected sites where the landowner or occupier has granted permission.
The licences only permit badger control to take place outside these closed seasons:
Natural England has today (Monday 7 September) published licences for areas that will undertake badger control operations in England this autumn, in accordance with statutory guidance given by the Secretary of State. This includes the reauthorisation of licences for 33 existing areas alongside licences for 11 additional areas.
Earlier this year, the government published its response to the Godfray Review which sets out the next phase of its 25-year bTB eradication strategy. The response outlines out the government’s intention to phase out intensive badger culling in the next few years, while ensuring that wildlife control remains a tool that can be deployed where the scientific evidence supports it. Bovine TB remains the greatest animal health threat that England faces today, with more than 30,000 cattle slaughtered each year due to infection.
This operational publication is a continuation of the long-term strategy to tackle the animal disease Bovine TB which was published in April 2014.
“Bovine TB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges that the UK faces today, causing considerable trauma for farmers and costing taxpayers over £100 million every year.
“No one wants to continue the cull of a protected species indefinitely. That is why we are accelerating other elements of our strategy, including vaccination and improved testing so that we can eradicate this insidious disease and start to phase out badger culling in England.”
All applications received were carefully assessed to ensure that each cull company has suitable arrangements and plans in place to carry out an operation that is safe, effective and humane.
The government’s response to the Godfray Review outlined the need for a combined approach which includes tighter cattle movement controls, regular testing, as well as badger and cattle vaccination to eradicate the disease in England by 2038.
In July, the government announced that world-leading bovine tuberculosis (bTB) TB cattle vaccination trials are set to get underway in England and Wales as a result of a major breakthrough by government scientists. These trials enable work to accelerate towards planned deployment of a cattle vaccine by 2025. One fully developed and approved, a cattle vaccine will provide another major step forward in the government’s strategy to phase out intensive culling.
The government recently awarded £500,000 grant funding for projects that develop new tools to diagnose tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. The programme, run by Defra on behalf of England, Scotland and Wales, will fund innovative research projects using cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning aimed at detecting infection in cattle herds faster.