The end of pcr tests ?

booneruk

Dr_Crypto said:

I still don’t understand your logic. The government will send you a box of them for free as things stand. They were handing them out to attendees at festivals. Certain local authorities in the U.K. were advising tourists to take ones before arriving. What’s the difference between a festival in Leeds or a weekend in Cornwall and a weekend in Spain? 

The government will send you a box of the lateral flow tests for free, which are cheaper and less accurate than the gold-standard PCR tests that foreign countries/airlines may demand you take. You choose to go overseas, why should the UK taxpayer fund the hurdles you have to take to get into a foreign land?

michael1234

booneruk said:

Dr_Crypto said:

I still don’t understand your logic. The government will send you a box of them for free as things stand. They were handing them out to attendees at festivals. Certain local authorities in the U.K. were advising tourists to take ones before arriving. What’s the difference between a festival in Leeds or a weekend in Cornwall and a weekend in Spain? 

The government will send you a box of the lateral flow tests for free, which are cheaper and less accurate than the gold-standard PCR tests that foreign countries/airlines may demand you take. You choose to go overseas, why should the UK taxpayer fund the hurdles you have to take to get into a foreign land?

I think what @Dr_Crypto is saying is to compare the tax payer footing the bill for thousands of people to gather in one place at a festival with the freedom to travel internationally.

I think he makes an excellent point. Going to a festival is inherently risky from a Covid-19 transmission point of view and yet we all pay for their Covid tests. Allowing free international travel is one of the key tenets of a western democracy IMO so if we're paying for testing to do one activity one we should pay for the other and vice-versa.

Sandtree

michael1234 said:

booneruk said:

Dr_Crypto said:

I still don’t understand your logic. The government will send you a box of them for free as things stand. They were handing them out to attendees at festivals. Certain local authorities in the U.K. were advising tourists to take ones before arriving. What’s the difference between a festival in Leeds or a weekend in Cornwall and a weekend in Spain? 

The government will send you a box of the lateral flow tests for free, which are cheaper and less accurate than the gold-standard PCR tests that foreign countries/airlines may demand you take. You choose to go overseas, why should the UK taxpayer fund the hurdles you have to take to get into a foreign land?

I think what Dr_Crypto is saying is to compare the tax payer footing the bill for thousands of people to gather in one place at a festival with the freedom to travel internationally.

I think he makes an excellent point. Going to a festival is inherently risky from a Covid-19 transmission point of view and yet we all pay for their Covid tests. Allowing free international travel is one of the key tenets of a western democracy IMO so if we're paying for testing to do one activity one we should pay for the other and vice-versa.

What has actually been the setup for lateral flow tests at festivals though? The only one I could see online the festival organisers were requiring a test on entry and therefore they, not the tax payer, are paying for it (or its included in the ticket price depending on how you want to look at it)

The difference with overseas travel than domestic festivals is the difference between bringing something new into the country and just further circulating something already here.

As to free travel being a key tenet of democracy? Western democracies have some of the most restrictive movement policies in the world for people to freely visit/move

Butts

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

What really confused me is that I have a UK passport. However, if I fly back to Heathrow, then on to a Scottish airport I will have different arrangements. How can that be?

Simply because Public Health is a devolved matter so the government in Edinburgh can have different rules than London. Same as regional governments in other countries have different rules on entry requirements,  restriction on businesses and mask wearing. Tenerife has different rules to mainland Spain.

But I have a UK passport not a Scottish passport, how can it be enforced. Many people will just drive to an English airport.

Would it be worth driving to an English airport just to avoid to cost of a pre-departure test on return?

You may not like it but under devolution Scotland is entitled to impose whatever arrival health requirements at airports it wants regardless of the nationality or residence of the traveller. In principle they could also have checks at the border crossing but this is probably impractical.

No need, just fly via LHR and that will be your point of entry to the UK on your return.

The 2nd leg is domestic and not subject to any immigration controls.

The pre-test will only be enforceable if you are flying directly into Scotland - ie that is where you enter the UK.

Troytempest

booneruk said:

Dr_Crypto said:

I still don’t understand your logic. The government will send you a box of them for free as things stand. They were handing them out to attendees at festivals. Certain local authorities in the U.K. were advising tourists to take ones before arriving. What’s the difference between a festival in Leeds or a weekend in Cornwall and a weekend in Spain? 

The government will send you a box of the lateral flow tests for free, which are cheaper and less accurate than the gold-standard PCR tests that foreign countries/airlines may demand you take. You choose to go overseas, why should the UK taxpayer fund the hurdles you have to take to get into a foreign land?

The UK tax payer funds all sorts of things that many people find wasteful and unnecessary but I guess that's another debate altogether!

Dr_Crypto

silvercar said:

Dr_Crypto said:

silvercar said:

sheramber said:

frugal90 said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

What really confused me is that I have a UK passport. However, if I fly back to Heathrow, then on to a Scottish airport I will have different arrangements. How can that be?

Simply because Public Health is a devolved matter so the government in Edinburgh can have different rules than London. Same as regional governments in other countries have different rules on entry requirements,  restriction on businesses and mask wearing. Tenerife has different rules to mainland Spain.

But I have a UK passport not a Scottish passport, how can it be enforced. Many people will just drive to an English airport.

and then they will follow the rules for the UK.

Where you live or travel to doesn't matter. Where you arrive in the country and from where is what matters.

An English, Welsh or Northern Irish  person flying into a Scottish airport from abroad will have to follow the rules for arriving in Scotland.  The same as  a French or German person arriving direct  at a Scottish airport will have to follow the Scottish rules.

It’s a bit of a hybrid. England allows test to release on day 5, Scotland doesn’t. This means that you can’t remain in England until day 5 and then be free to go to Scotland as Scotland requires 10 day isolation. If you could choose to only follow the English rule, you could arrive at Newcastle airport, go isolate at home in Scotland, return to England for a day 5 TTR and then go back to Scotland and stop isolating when your result came through.

Why do you need to return to England for the day 5 TTR? You could just use a postal test from Scotland! 

To comply with the rules, TTR is only valid in England,  so being in England at least means you can take that test legally.

That makes no sense at all. Why does having the test taken in England make any difference? Does the person have to cross the border to take the swab and then post it? What if they took the swab in England and used a Scottish post box? 

This is utterly absurd. 

Doshwaster

Butts said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

What really confused me is that I have a UK passport. However, if I fly back to Heathrow, then on to a Scottish airport I will have different arrangements. How can that be?

Simply because Public Health is a devolved matter so the government in Edinburgh can have different rules than London. Same as regional governments in other countries have different rules on entry requirements,  restriction on businesses and mask wearing. Tenerife has different rules to mainland Spain.

But I have a UK passport not a Scottish passport, how can it be enforced. Many people will just drive to an English airport.

Would it be worth driving to an English airport just to avoid to cost of a pre-departure test on return?

You may not like it but under devolution Scotland is entitled to impose whatever arrival health requirements at airports it wants regardless of the nationality or residence of the traveller. In principle they could also have checks at the border crossing but this is probably impractical.

No need, just fly via LHR and that will be your point of entry to the UK on your return.

The 2nd leg is domestic and not subject to any immigration controls.

The pre-test will only be enforceable if you are flying directly into Scotland - ie that is where you enter the UK.

By the letter of the Scotland regulations you would still need a pre-departure test if flying via Heathrow or Gatwick as you will have been abroad in the last 3 days. Of course how enforceable that can be is a different matter especially if the two flights are on separate tickets. 

Butts

Doshwaster said:

Butts said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

What really confused me is that I have a UK passport. However, if I fly back to Heathrow, then on to a Scottish airport I will have different arrangements. How can that be?

Simply because Public Health is a devolved matter so the government in Edinburgh can have different rules than London. Same as regional governments in other countries have different rules on entry requirements,  restriction on businesses and mask wearing. Tenerife has different rules to mainland Spain.

But I have a UK passport not a Scottish passport, how can it be enforced. Many people will just drive to an English airport.

Would it be worth driving to an English airport just to avoid to cost of a pre-departure test on return?

You may not like it but under devolution Scotland is entitled to impose whatever arrival health requirements at airports it wants regardless of the nationality or residence of the traveller. In principle they could also have checks at the border crossing but this is probably impractical.

No need, just fly via LHR and that will be your point of entry to the UK on your return.

The 2nd leg is domestic and not subject to any immigration controls.

The pre-test will only be enforceable if you are flying directly into Scotland - ie that is where you enter the UK.

By the letter of the Scotland regulations you would still need a pre-departure test if flying via Heathrow or Gatwick as you will have been abroad in the last 3 days. Of course how enforceable that can be is a different matter especially if the two flights are on separate tickets. 

I am travelling to Turkey on October 21st and Flying from Edinburgh to Istanbul via LHR on British Airways.

On the return journey if Scotland still has the pre-departure test requirement just how is it going to work ?

On the PLF form or checking in at the Airport in Istanbul will they require evidence of this test prior to boarding a Flight to London Heathrow ?

If not it's all hot air and empty rhetoric !!

silvercar

Dr_Crypto said:

silvercar said:

Dr_Crypto said:

silvercar said:

sheramber said:

frugal90 said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

What really confused me is that I have a UK passport. However, if I fly back to Heathrow, then on to a Scottish airport I will have different arrangements. How can that be?

Simply because Public Health is a devolved matter so the government in Edinburgh can have different rules than London. Same as regional governments in other countries have different rules on entry requirements,  restriction on businesses and mask wearing. Tenerife has different rules to mainland Spain.

But I have a UK passport not a Scottish passport, how can it be enforced. Many people will just drive to an English airport.

and then they will follow the rules for the UK.

Where you live or travel to doesn't matter. Where you arrive in the country and from where is what matters.

An English, Welsh or Northern Irish  person flying into a Scottish airport from abroad will have to follow the rules for arriving in Scotland.  The same as  a French or German person arriving direct  at a Scottish airport will have to follow the Scottish rules.

It’s a bit of a hybrid. England allows test to release on day 5, Scotland doesn’t. This means that you can’t remain in England until day 5 and then be free to go to Scotland as Scotland requires 10 day isolation. If you could choose to only follow the English rule, you could arrive at Newcastle airport, go isolate at home in Scotland, return to England for a day 5 TTR and then go back to Scotland and stop isolating when your result came through.

Why do you need to return to England for the day 5 TTR? You could just use a postal test from Scotland! 

To comply with the rules, TTR is only valid in England,  so being in England at least means you can take that test legally.

That makes no sense at all. Why does having the test taken in England make any difference? Does the person have to cross the border to take the swab and then post it? What if they took the swab in England and used a Scottish post box? 

This is utterly absurd. 

TTR isn’t valid in Scotland, so if you are in Scotland you should still be isolating. Devolved nations make their own rules. The fact that they contradict with England and there is an open border between makes it all a nonsense.

Doshwaster

Butts said:

Doshwaster said:

Butts said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

Doshwaster said:

frugal90 said:

What really confused me is that I have a UK passport. However, if I fly back to Heathrow, then on to a Scottish airport I will have different arrangements. How can that be?

Simply because Public Health is a devolved matter so the government in Edinburgh can have different rules than London. Same as regional governments in other countries have different rules on entry requirements,  restriction on businesses and mask wearing. Tenerife has different rules to mainland Spain.

But I have a UK passport not a Scottish passport, how can it be enforced. Many people will just drive to an English airport.

Would it be worth driving to an English airport just to avoid to cost of a pre-departure test on return?

You may not like it but under devolution Scotland is entitled to impose whatever arrival health requirements at airports it wants regardless of the nationality or residence of the traveller. In principle they could also have checks at the border crossing but this is probably impractical.

No need, just fly via LHR and that will be your point of entry to the UK on your return.

The 2nd leg is domestic and not subject to any immigration controls.

The pre-test will only be enforceable if you are flying directly into Scotland - ie that is where you enter the UK.

By the letter of the Scotland regulations you would still need a pre-departure test if flying via Heathrow or Gatwick as you will have been abroad in the last 3 days. Of course how enforceable that can be is a different matter especially if the two flights are on separate tickets. 

I am travelling to Turkey on October 21st and Flying from Edinburgh to Istanbul via LHR on British Airways.

On the return journey if Scotland still has the pre-departure test requirement just how is it going to work ?

On the PLF form or checking in at the Airport in Istanbul will they require evidence of this test prior to boarding a Flight to London Heathrow ?

If not it's all hot air and empty rhetoric !!

If you are flying on one ticket then it could well be down to the airline's interpretation of the rules. If they see Scotland as your final destination at check-in then they may need a negative result. Flying via Heathrow is no different to going via Amsterdam or Paris.