NEVER has Cliff Richard’s timeless classic 'Summer Holiday' sounded less appropriate.

Almost six decades after the 1963 hit was released, Brits are facing the prospect of going nowhere this summer.

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The suitcases will remain unpacked, the flights unbooked, the sunglasses unworn.

Before this week, the Coronavirus pandemic had already ended many people’s dreams of holidays.

Overstretched personal finances, worsening job insecurities and fears about infection were big enough problems.

Just as depressing was the advice from the Foreign Office against all but “essential” travel.

In any case, most worldwide destinations have been closed to foreign visitors.

Yet now, just as other countries are starting to ease their lockdowns, our own Government has dealt a hammer blow to British tourism.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, today announced that summer holidays would most likely be cancelled this year.

And in a controversial broadcast on Sunday evening, the Prime Minister announced that from June all arrivals to the United Kingdom by air, including returning British holidaymakers, will be told to self-isolate for two weeks or face a £1,000 fine.

Effectively, a system of mass quarantine is going to be imposed on the aviation industry, making air travel a nightmare.

This proposal is far too late

Imposing quarantine for travellers from overseas is hopelessly impractical and will cause further devastation to the collapsing economy and bring despair to millions of Briton.

And apart from its huge negative impact, the quarantine proposal comes far too late.

It might have worked when the first Coronavirus cases emerged from China in January. But in the face of mounting concerns in the early part of the year, the Government did nothing.

More than 18million people arrived at British airports in the first three months of this year.

The Government has yet to develop a workable contact tracing app, cannot ensure supplies of protective gear, and has indulged in mixed messaging over the lockdown.

Shamefully, Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientist, has admitted that “a big influx of cases” earlier in the year may have helped spread the virus “right the way across the country”.

Even since the lockdown, 15,000 travellers have been arriving every day, making a farce of all the restrictions on British people.

Boris’s plan is a classic case of shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted.

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Tourism will be wrecked

The potential ruination of Britain’s tourism industry is just as disturbing.

From hotels to museums, this is one of the most vital parts of our economy, worth an estimated £68billion-a-year and accounting for 11 per cent of all jobs.

In 2018, there were 38million visitors from overseas to Britain, spending £23billion.

In Boris’s new puritan world, this Great British escape will be brought to a juddering halt.

Most of that trade will be lost if the self-isolation rules come into force.

Even businesses outside tourism will be wrecked.

Would any executive or representative want to come to Britain for a short commercial trip, which could result in quasi-house arrest for 14 days?

The entire fabric of international transactions will be torn apart.

Stable doors and bolting horses

It is a recipe for more waste and frustration.

Instead of pursuing this panic-stricken policy, the Government should just introduce Coronavirus testing for all arrivals at our air terminals, ports and international train stations.

Such a solution would be simpler, cheaper and more effective.

We deserve a break, not further punishment.

As aviation expert Paul Charles said yesterday, “Airports are ideal locations to create secure testing areas before passengers could potentially spread the virus further.”

The Government boasts, with some justification, of its huge increase in testing capacity, so why not divert some of it to where it will have a real benefit?

After all, most other major countries in the world don't have routine testing of air travellers.

For extra security, passengers from high risk countries could also be required to carry immunity certificates. Similar to a visa, such a certificate would show that the holder had tested negative for Covid in their homeland before travelling.

It would have a strict time limit, and a heavy cash fee, which could also act as both a deterrent to chancers and a subsidy for the costs of the airport testing regime.

That is the way to increase safety without taking another wrecking ball to the economy.

The Government should have a rethink. We deserve a break, not further punishment.

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