Four countries including Italy and Greece face quarantine restrictions

I first came to Minehead in 1999 as a starry-eyed eight-year-old who had never left his home city. We didn’t have a car, so me and my mum caught a coach from Birmingham which traversed the wildlife-strewn countryside on its golden-coast expedition to Butlin’s: every child’s utopian playground. For this landlocked young boy, the journey alone felt like a holiday. Imagine my joy when we actually got there.

Today, as a 29-year-old re-visiting Minehead for the umpteenth time, I’m riding a wave of nostalgia...

Each villa is assigned a personal butler who will attend to your every whim, from buggy runs to the beach to drawing bedtime baths, and arranging a full itinerary of sunset cruises, wine-tasting and anti-gravity yoga – you’ll barely know how to think for yourself by the end of your stay.

Aside from swathes of white coral sands to loll on, there’s also a sweeping infinity pool, a tip-top gym, an airy library and a spa with six overwater treatment rooms.

If we have to wait for a vaccine before we get people flying again, I suspect not only will Heathrow be Britain’s only hub airport, it will be Britain’s only airport and we may not have any UK airlines. That would be a catastrophic outcome for the UK.

Alex Cruz, the chief executive of British Airways, has said that without testing BA won’t survive. That captures the challenge we face.

The aviation sector could be destroyed in this country and that would be a tragedy. Look at what happened to the Port of London. London’s docks in the 1950s were the biggest and busiest in the world. By 1969, they were closed. These things can happen. The best in the world can be closed down.

"In the midst of today’s global crisis, it would be easy to despair. Despite mounting evidence that the destruction of nature caused by deforestation and a booming trade in wild animals would result in new zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19, people nonetheless continued with such vandalism. Just as bad, the most striking aspect of the response to the resulting crisis is the absence of cooperation between nations. While science might come to the rescue, global leadership has shown little willingness to do so.

"Yet this week we are at last presented with a ray of hope. Before a UN summit on biodiversity tomorrow, over 60 heads of government have signed a pledge for nature, committing themselves to reduce pollution, support sustainable food production, stop deforestation and put nature at the heart of their plans for economic recovery. In signing this pledge, Boris Johnson is promising that 30 per cent of the land area of the UK will be protected to help nature’s recovery. "

My holidays are usually spent enjoying the outdoors or slumped beside a hotel pool, not clubbing or visiting a care home. Wouldn’t a week overseas be the less risky option?

If we must persist with this foolish quarantine policy, the only logical threshold would be whatever the UK’s case rate is that week – not some arbitrary figure that seemed appropriate back in July. It’s just one obvious step that would give the beleaguered travel industry, which employs millions of Britons and is staring into the abyss, a much-needed boost – without increasing the Covid risk.

[What is required] is a positive response from Government. A further four destinations were added to the quarantine list at the weekend, again with little notice. These latest changes introduce even more uncertainty, with no clarity or stability against which to make all-important travel decisions. What we call for is immediate, clear and unambiguous Government support for a safe return to flying, alongside the effort’s airports, airlines and ground handlers have already made.

That means, as a starting point, consistency in messaging and a commitment to testing to establish confidence and remove the widespread confusion that derives from the current approach to quarantine. Without such support, an industry which was, until recently, responsible for employing almost one million people in the UK will be fighting for survival with one arm tied behind its back.