Holidays: 'People shouldn't expect huge changes' to green list today, says Environment Secretary

The UK green list likely won't see many changes, according to Environmental Secretary George Eustice. Appearing on GB News' The Great British Breakfast, he said that travel is the "greatest threat" to the spreading of new Covid variants.

"If we have a variant that can get around the vaccine, then that becomes more of a problem," said Mr Eustice.

The Environmental Secretary's comments on GB News come before the Government reviews its foreign travel list later on Thursday.

Some reports have indicated that an update of the lists which determine the quarantine and testing requirements for people arriving in the UK could see Malta and the Balearic Islands added to the green list.

While acknowledging that people did want to travel again, Mr Eustice said "broadly speaking the situation hasn't changed a great deal in the last few weeks," so "people shouldn't expect huge changes" to the UK green list.

People arriving in the UK from green list destinations are not required to self-isolate, but there are currently no viable major tourist destinations in that tier.

However, Malta and the Balearic Islands, with its popular destinations of Mallorca and Ibiza, are among a “handful” of places being considered for addition to the green list, according to the Times.

Malta and Spain are currently on the Government’s amber list, alongside other popular summer hotspots such as Portugal, Italy and Greece, with a 10-day quarantine period at home required for people returning from those locations.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this week that the Government is “working on” plans to allow quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated Britons returning from amber locations.

Asked about the prospect of restrictions being eased in the review, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the PA news agency: “Of course I very much hope the world could open up.

“We’ve got to follow the data, and that’s what we’ll be doing in the meetings over the next few days.”

His comments came as the travel industry held a day of action on Wednesday to put pressure on the Government to reopen the sector and provide tailored financial support to businesses.