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Mere pawns

WHEN will politicians and governments stop gambling with our lives in their games of one-upmanship? First one closes their borders then another follows suit in what seems like a childlike move, do they really have our best interests at heart or have we become bargaining tools in their future plans?

Three weeks ago, the UK government decided to re-impose a 14-day quarantine on everyone arriving from Spain forcing travellers into panic and trying to return home at short notice.

At the time, Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez said visitors would be safer from the virus in Spain than in the UK, and he hoped Britain would think again.

However, the UK government have not changed their mind and an official spokesperson for BoJo even warned that “no travel is risk-free during this pandemic”.

Now, the UK government has said anyone travelling from France and the Netherlands will have to quarantine, which again caused a mass exodus among those holidaying in these destinations.

It was reported that the latest measure was put into place as new COVID-19 infections grew across Europe and France, in particular, reported a large increase in infections in the past week.

The move is a gigantic blow to France’s tourism industry as the previous move was to Spain’s. Is there something we are missing? A bigger picture? Take away the destinations and people will spend money on home soil maybe?