(CNN) – British people trying to go on holiday while travel restrictions still apply could face a $ 7,000 fine under the new government legislation.
The UK’s new Roadmap Regulations, released on Monday, suggest that anyone traveling outside England without a reasonable excuse should be fined £ 5,000 ($ 6,932).
Parliament will vote on the legislation on Thursday – which comes a year after the UK was first locked up.
Under Covid-19 restrictions, non-significant travel is currently prohibited. According to the “Stay at Home” order, everyone leaving the country must complete a travel declaration form explaining the nature of their trip. Returning UK residents are being questioned by border staff about the reasons they traveled.
Currently the fine is £ 200 for completing a travel declaration form.
If accepted, the £ 5,000 flat-rate fine will take effect on Monday 29 March.
The new law remains in force until June 30, which means that essential travel will be banned for another three months. So far, the earliest date for resuming international travel has been set for May 17th.
Europe on the Red List?
There is talk that France may end up on the UK Red List.
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Government officials have repeatedly warned the public that there is no certainty that they will be able to holiday abroad this summer.
On Monday, Health Minister Lord Bethell suggested that the whole of Europe could end up on the British “Red List” of countries with dangerously high Covid-19 levels. His boss, Matt Hancock, health secretary, said there were currently no plans for that.
Travelers entering England or Wales from the Red List countries must be quarantined on arrival at a hotel for ten days, at a cost of £ 1,750 ($ 2,400) per person.
At present there are no European countries there, although there is a possibility that France could be placed on it after an increase in cases with the South African variant. Portugal was removed from the list after the number of cases fell.
If accepted, the travel ban will be reviewed on April 12 and then again every 35 days.
The legislation proposes fines for people at airports or “entry points for the purpose of traveling from there to a destination outside the United Kingdom.”
The fine of £ 200 for those caught without a completed travel declaration form, even if they travel for material reasons, remains.
Exemptions from the legislation include those for whom it is “reasonably” necessary to travel abroad for work, volunteering or study. People traveling for a certain number of emergencies are also exempt, as are those living abroad.
Those traveling to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland were also released. If you travel to Ireland and then fly on to another country, the fine of £ 5,000 will be imposed.
The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish governments make their own travel decisions. At the moment, Wales is in line with England’s leadership, and Scotland places a ten – day quarantine in state – run facilities on all travelers, regardless of where they come from.
So far, Scotland and Wales, along with England, have called May 17 the first possible date for international travel. Northern Ireland has not yet made any statements.
With the introduction of the draft legislation, Health Minister Matt Hancock said in a statement:
‘These measures have been crucial to reducing infections, hospitalizations and deaths across the country, and thanks to people’s dedication and support, we have made strong progress.
“We rightly end as many national measures as safely as possible, while retaining those that remain necessary and proportionate to further reduce and control infections, as we carefully but irreversibly ease restrictions and continue our historic vaccination program.”