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who are they?

(41 Posts)
grannygranby Fri 05-Feb-21 11:20:03

Who ARE these thousands of British residents flying in? Apparently we did s £75 million airlift of them 11 months ago. Are they ex pats fleeing from Brexit? And if so why not say so. They can’t be holiday makers? And why two weeks grace? the very rich will avoid enforced quarantine....I don’t get it.

NotSpaghetti Fri 05-Feb-21 11:24:56

The whole thing is a mess.

PippaZ Fri 05-Feb-21 11:31:58

This is not a newspaper and it really helps if you in the title what the thread is actually about.

Thanks smile

maddyone Fri 05-Feb-21 11:40:39

grannygranby I also wonder who all these people are. Apparently 21.000 people every day are flying into the UK. Who are they? Why are they flying into the UK? Holidays are illegal and travel is banned, so I really don’t understand why all these people are flying into the UK every day.

PippaZ Fri 05-Feb-21 11:42:10

you in you put in

EllanVannin Fri 05-Feb-21 11:43:36

That's it ! I'm off on the bus shopping for things that aren't necessary.

Redhead56 Fri 05-Feb-21 12:00:35

I have never got it at all if they chose to live abroad they should stay abroad. The whole situation just infuriates me and people coming here from parts of the common wealth does too.
The pandemic is never going to go if people continue to travel the economy is a mess. I would like to know where these people will live and work.

JenniferEccles Fri 05-Feb-21 13:32:07

It’s a staggering figure isn’t it?
21,000 every day ?
I also want to know who they are and why there are SO many of them flying in here every single day.

We are all expected to abide by the rules regarding only going out for essential journeys yet it appears all and sundry are permitted to fly in.

Alegrias1 Fri 05-Feb-21 13:39:28

Well I've said it before but I'll post it again as people would rather get all indignant and ignore what may really be happening.

I know two people at least who have had to fly back into the UK during the lockdown. One had to go to a European country because of a medical emergency there. One had unavoidable family business in another country and had to come home afterwards. Neither was on holiday and both did their quarantine at home afterwards.

As to where they will all live and work Redhead? Mostly in their own homes and at their own jobs.

Baggs Fri 05-Feb-21 14:14:27

This is from bbc.co.uk site:

"And many people flying into Heathrow will transit and fly straight back out again to another destination.
Many airlines would not disclose exactly how many passengers they have been ferrying into London."

Where has the number 21,000 come from?

Baggs Fri 05-Feb-21 14:16:00

That Heathrow is a global hub airport between east and west right across the world is one of the reasons we can't close borders in the same way as, say, New Zealand, which is much more isolated.

maddyone Fri 05-Feb-21 14:16:21

So are we expected to believe that 21,000 people are all returning to the UK because of family/medical emergencies abroad?
Two people out of 21,000? So what were all the others doing abroad?

maddyone Fri 05-Feb-21 14:19:44

And don’t forget that’s it’s 21,000 people every single day! That’s almost a quarter of a million people a week! All having to fly off to family emergencies.
I’ve seen footage of a rather large number of British partying in Dubai.

Alegrias1 Fri 05-Feb-21 14:30:38

My examples maddyone are to show that people can have very good reasons for coming back into the UK and the indignation about all these people coming here, who are they etc. is just misplaced, in my opinion.

None of us on here (apart from me, it seems....) have any idea why people might want to travel in this pandemic but I can assure you that neither of the people I knew wanted to sit in a plane for several hours in the middle of the pandemic and neither took the decision lightly.

We seem to be scapegoating people who may have very good reasons indeed to travel.

Urmstongran Fri 05-Feb-21 14:39:57

Australia capped their number of entrants to just 1,500 a WEEK. Mind you as Baggs says up thread Oz is a final destination place, not a hub for ongoing travel.

maddyone Fri 05-Feb-21 15:30:55

Alegrias
Your belief that all of the almost quarter of a million people who are entering Britain every week have very good reasons to be travelling, are in my opinion misplaced. An example of two people out of almost a quarter of a million does not constitute proper evidence I’m afraid. Your opinion is not evidence either. Clearly many people are expressing legitimate concerns over this, and I’m one of them. Our borders should have been closed properly many months ago, but I accept that is merely my opinion. I understand the difference between opinion and evidence.

Baggs Fri 05-Feb-21 15:35:17

maddyone, a lot of the number of people who are entering the UK each day, week, month and so on are also leaving it very promptly because the UK, and Heathrow in particular, is an international plane stop (c/f bus stops) where people get off one plane and onto another without leaving the airport.

Baggs Fri 05-Feb-21 15:35:41

Where does the 21,000 a day come from, please?

Baggs Fri 05-Feb-21 15:37:22

Actually a better comparison would be with a railway station where people have to change trains to get to where they're heading.

Jaxjacky Fri 05-Feb-21 15:37:52

I’d like to know too Baggs

janeainsworth Fri 05-Feb-21 15:44:32

" "There are 21,000 people coming through our airports every day, they are not being quarantined, they are not being quarantined and they may have the South African variant", he added, and said they may also have other variants."
Dr Hilary Jones on Good Morning Britain, as reported in The Manchester Evening News.
Needless to say, no source is given for this assertion.
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/good-morning-britains-dr-hilary-19750940

GillT57 Fri 05-Feb-21 15:44:58

Baggs

That Heathrow is a global hub airport between east and west right across the world is one of the reasons we can't close borders in the same way as, say, New Zealand, which is much more isolated.

When you fly into Heathrow or any other hub airport you go into transit and don't leave the airport.

GillT57 Fri 05-Feb-21 15:48:28

Well, I know of one family who have flown in from their holiday home in South Africa to avoid hotel quarantine. Do these people really think that the virus knows dates and only infects them after 15th February?

maddyone Fri 05-Feb-21 15:49:45

Baggs I know that the UK is a hub for flights, which is probably the reason why the government were reluctant to close our borders. I’ve no idea where they’re all coming from, but it was said yesterday on the BBC news that approximately 21,000 people enter Britain every day. People were interviewed yesterday as they were leaving the airport and they had come from Dubai, the Caribbean, and South Africa. So it appears that they’re coming from all over the world. Does it not worry you that all these people are entering the country, not quarantined (they’re supposed to voluntarily quarantine but do they?) and are potentially bringing in the virus, including new variants? It certainly concerns me.

Alegrias1 Fri 05-Feb-21 15:58:20

It is not right to mix up the valid concern about people avoiding quarantine with the assertion that travellers are coming here for no good reason and insinuating that they have no right to be here.