Phil Nuttall: 'Travel has nobody in govt to represent us'

The Travel Village chief executive’s call followed widespread industry anger over the government’s decision to remove the UK’s travel corridor with Spain and enforce 14-day quarantine measures on those returning.

Trade backlash against the move condemned the short notice of the announcement – made on Saturday evening – the mixed messages between the Foreign Office and Department for Transport over restrictions to Spain’s islands and a lack of clarity over how the decision was reached, given the relatively low Covid infection rate in some areas of Spain compared to the UK.

“Many people in the UK live and work hard for their holidays and many rely on transport and travel for their livelihoods. This industry is slowly being dismantled by the lack of understanding of the travel industry from the current government and those before it,” said Nuttall.

“The Foreign Office has acted randomly, recklessly and unreasonably on several occasions with apparently no understanding of the impact their timing and wording has on this industry or peoples travel plans.