Heathrow crowding due to Covid test checks on passengers, says Priti Patel
A row over health risks from Heathrow passport queues broke out on Tuesday as Priti Patel said the crowding was the result of increased checking of passengers for Covid test results.
The Home Secretary was challenged by MPs over crowds at Heathrow over the weekend as some 10,000 arrivals a day crammed into the immigration hall in which Border Force had introduced checks of incoming passengers' pre-departure tests and locator forms.
Yvette Cooper, who chairs the home affairs committee, said the crowds, with passengers struggling to socially distance, were unsafe and "the very opposite of quarantine".
Ms Patel responded: "The fact of the matter is those queues materialised because of the compliance checks that Border Force had put in place."
The Home Secretary said Border Force was working with Heathrow to maintain social distancing as officials sought to check 100 per cent of passengers arriving to ensure they had negative results from pre-departure tests and locator forms to confirm where they would be quarantining.
Sources at Heathrow said they were concerned that Border Force had not got enough staff to keep queues down, although it is understood airlines have now been mandated to check all passengers' Covid-negative certificates and locator forms before embarkation.
"We don't believe Border Force is properly resourced to do the job that it is meant to be doing," the source said.
Data shows more than one in five non-EU arrivals were having to queue for more than 45 minutes during December.
Vedrana Vukušić, a carer from Croatia who arrived at Heathrow last week, said the 90-minute queues at border control were "like torture", adding: "Quite a lot of cubicles were empty of staff and there were a lot of people who removed their masks. It's not good at all with such a huge number around.
"After being really careful for the last few months, it was the only situation I was likely to catch it. It didn't feel safe at all. The gentleman next to me said it was a disgrace and too dangerous for Heathrow to be like this."
A Heathrow spokesman said Border Force was responsible for the immigration hall and it had offered staff to help advise people on social distancing, adding: "We've maintained at the start that social distancing at an airport is not possible, which is why we've mandated face coverings since the summer," said a spokesman.
