German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday launched her drive to ban Britons, vaccinated or not, from entering European Union countries because, she claims, of the spread of the Delta or Indian variant in the United Kingdom. France, has thrown its support behind the proposal as has Italy while a number of other EU countries have tightened up controls on visitors from the UK, Portugal was the latest yesterday.
But, who, may I ask, does Merkel think she is? Surely any such EU wide decisions should be proposed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. How a rogue premier can strike out it in what could be considered a blatant attack on UK residents’ freedom of movement is beyond me.
The Delta variant is already spreading across Europe where the vaccination roll out is way below that of the UK - in Germany, for example, only 52 percent of adults have had the double jab compared to 65 percent and rising in the UK. Plus, countries like Spain, which desperately need British holiday makers back are highly unlikely to sign up to the Merkel plan.
Spain requires a PCR or double vaccination for UK visitors, the country is certainly not thinking of slapping on a ban, it would cripple the tourist industry again. Individual countries should be allowed to make their own decisions and not be harangued by Merkel.