Thread by @AdamWagner1

There is some confusion over the travel regulations and what has changed (and confusing messaging)

The truth is that policy over international travel has been confused throughout the pandemic, which suggests (to me, based on experience) policy disagreements

(thread)

The government toyed with the idea that international travel was banned under the various "stay at home" regulations but it was only recently (29 March) when the Steps regulations came into force that international travel without a "reasonable excuse" was explicitly prohibited

The "don't travel outside the UK without a reasonable excuse" law lasted until Monday 18 May, so only about 7 weeks.

Hotel quarantine - though discussed since Feb 2020 - only came into law on 15 February 2021

The "travel regulations" which include compulsory testing and self-isolation (now for "Amber List" countries) have evolved since being introduced on 8 June 2020 - but they have never included an international travel ban *out* of the UK.

Weirdly, the international travel ban out of the UK was contained in the lockdown "Steps" regulations only.

Anyway, what this suggests to me (as an observer the evolution of these regulations) is that there has never been much stomach for restrictions on travel out of the UK...

... as demonstrated by the only occasional use of explicit laws to restrict it.

There has also been a lot of talk about the confusion between guidance and law during the pandemic - this applies particularly to international travel and we are seeing it acutely in recent days...

... since the travel ban (Regulation 8) was taken out of the steps regulations entirely so leaving much of the work to guidance - except hotel quarantine for return from "red list" countries, self-isolation from Amber list and mandatory testing.