© Reuters / Hannah McKay21st December 2020: Travelers attempt to socially distance as they wait in line at King's Cross station, London.
The Irish government says the measures, banning private travel between the UK and Ireland, will take effect on Sunday night and initially stay in place for at least two days. Cargo planes and freight vessels, as well as some essential supply-chain workers, will still be allowed to cross the border.
"General travel between here and Britain is going to be restricted, and we will review it on Tuesday morning," Transport Minister Eamon Ryan told Virgin Media News.
Mere minutes after the Irish announcement, French PM Jean Castex tweeted that Paris is also imposing a similar 48-hour restriction on travel from the UK, but "for all means of transport."
Citing the "new health risk," Castex added that all French nationals arriving from the UK may be required to take a PCR test after the initial "precautionary period."
Comment: This claimed 'new health risk' isn't backed by any science: There are thousands of Covid strains, so this new scare is NOT a big deal, but politicians just love their new authoritarianism
For those in Britain, Londoners and residents of Southeast England in particular, it doesn't look like the tightening of coronavirus rules is going away in a few days, however. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ramped up the restrictions on Saturday, including to near-lockdown 'Tier 4' level in the said regions. This means in effect that Christmas has been cancelled for millions of Brits, in spite of the looser plan announced earlier, while other parts of the UK have had any potential gatherings severely restricted.
Comment: It was announced months ago that the furlough scheme would extend into spring, and Ireland just announced a total lockdown for at least 2 months. Meanwhile Russia expects the Covid issue to be over with by spring:
Many weren't happy at the prospect and, while crowds took to railway stations and roads to try and escape Tier-4 areas in time for the Sunday travel ban, Brits on social media vented at Johnson for the seemingly abrupt change of heart. Sunday's numerous movement bans on UK travellers in Europe have only added insult to injury.
Comment: The government have been promising for months that the lockdowns were to 'save Christmas' and then, at the last minute, it was declared that 'Christmas was cancelled'. Note that these minds games are a repeating pattern.
"Time to (re-)acquaint ourselves with the phrase 'sick man of Europe'," one unhappy Mancunian wrote.
"Love to see Ireland cancelling flights from the UK so I'm stuck here again, thanks Boris you halfwit moron," another frustrated commenter wrote.
"This is what happens when you don't think through your excuse for making the mother of all U Turns," a Yorkshire man tweeted in an apparent jab at Johnson's move.
One Arsenal fan even reimagined the classic Mitchell and Webb sketch, suggesting Johnson himself may now be wondering, "Are we the baddies?"
"The whole of EUROPE is going to ban us to teach us the biggest lesson ever!" tweeted yet another critic.
In contrast, few in the UK have been cheering on the restrictions, although the measures have been justified by the "rapidly spreading" new strain of coronavirus detected in England. On Saturday, Johnson said there has not been any evidence the mutation is more dangerous for health or that it would not be susceptible to the available vaccines. However, just as the EU countries said they needed days to assess the potential new dangers, the significance of the newly-emerging strain is yet to be studied and described.
London Heathrow descends into chaos as hundreds stranded due to overbooked flights
A slew of videos was shared on social media purporting to show the vast queues and crowds of people attempting to flee the country ahead of the yuletide Tier 4 lockdown which came into effect over the weekend.
Scores of people were left stranded amid multiple reports of airlines overbooking flights.
"All passengers are advised to check their flight status and travel advice before travelling to the airport," Heathrow Airport tweeted.
"If you do not have a ticket or you are destined for a country with an active UK ban in place, you will not be able to check-in and therefore should contact your airline."
Over a dozen countries, including EU members as well as Israel, Kuwait, Canada, Turkey, etc. have left the UK isolated amid fears that the new strain may be even more contagious than Covid-19 itself.
The bans range in length from 24 hours up to two weeks while more data is gathered on the worrying new strain, known as VUI-202012/01. The new strain is reportedly up to 70 percent more transmissible than its predecessors.
The majority of new cases in the UK were recorded in London and the southeast of England, but a direct link with the new strain has yet to be definitively proven, though it is the presumed likely cause.
"It has also been detected in Wales, in Scotland, we have not had any detected in Northern Ireland," Dr Susan Hopkins, from Public Health England (PHE) said in an interview.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the outbreak allegedly caused by the new strain is "out of control" adding that it creates "an incredibly difficult end to frankly an awful year."
The Eurotunnel suspended access to its terminal while the port of Dover is also temporarily closed. Meanwhile, authorities in Italy confirmed the new strain has already been detected in the country, while authorities in France suspect cases may be found there, too.
Police dispatched to STOP London residents fleeing last-minute Tier 4 Covid-19 restrictions
The officers were tasked with ensuring "only those who need to take essential journeys" were allowed on the crowded trains, according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who warned Londoners to stay away from the stations unless they were "permitted to travel" on Sunday.
Comment: The human right to freedom of movement is clearly gone.
Specially appointed 'Christmas travel tsar' and Network Rail chair Peter Hendy backed him up. "We will be deploying staff...and extra officers are in place to ensure only essential journeys take place," he stated, without elaborating on how exactly the essential would be sorted from the non-essential.
Travelers in and out of the locked-down area were threatened with fines if they did not have a "reasonable excuse" for their journey, though National Police Chiefs' council chair Martin Hewitt stated there was "no intention" to set up roadblocks or checkpoints.
Comment: These ARE checkpoints.
Scottish police similarly vowed to "deter anyone who might be considering breaching travel restrictions" with "highly visible patrols," though chief constable Iain Livingstone also said they'd stop short of roadblocks and checkpoints.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock was less clear when asked how police planned to enforce the edict, telling the BBC he hoped "polic[ing] the transit system" would be "done by consent." Police would not be turning drivers away leaving London, he acknowledged.
However, the announcement had the opposite effect of its 'stay home' message ahead of Christmas, spurring unprecedented crowding as people fled London in a last-ditch effort to see their families for the festive period. Train tickets rapidly sold out, and video posted on social media attested to the chaos at major transit hubs even as London Mayor Sadiq Khan attempted to shame his fleeing constituents.
"You may be taking that virus with you from London to your mum, dad, elderly relations," the mayor warned, blaming the prime minister's office for triggering panic.
Comment: If people truly believed Sadiq's fearmongering they would stay home, but it seems that, by now, although many people do parrot the governent propaganda, their actions show that they do not believe what they're saying.
The surprise lockdown represented a reversal from PM Boris Johnson's earlier admission that it would be "frankly inhumane" to cancel Christmas celebrations, and Metropolitan Police Federation head Ken Marsh suggested it was unenforceable.
"We're not going to be knocking on people's doors on Christmas Day," he said, adding that "we have no power of entry."
The previous plan had allowed for a five-day period of household mixing for the Christmas holiday.
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