2 2GM Wednesday December 2 2020 | the times
News
not burdened by extra administrative
costs and that visits continued. “Care
home visits can’t just be for Christmas.”
Mike Padgham of the Independent
Care Group, which represents small
providers in Yorkshire, welcomed the
rules with some reservations. “It’s great... but the timescale is quite onerous,”
he said. “We haven’t got the kits yet and
we need to do the training when they
come. We have 110 beds so if we test two
visitors per client twice a week that’s
440 tests, not including testing resi-
dents and staff.” He added that it would
have helped if the government had an-
nounced it may not be possible for
everyone to visit their loved one in care
this Christmas.
The guidance came as Boris Johnson
suggested that people get a rapid test
before visiting elderly relatives at
Christmas. Millions of families are
weighing up the risk of infecting vul-
nerable relatives and the test-and-trace
system has been running with signifi-
Easyjet will charge for large bags in cabin
Graeme Paton Transport Correspondent
Easyjet will charge passengers at least
£8 to bring large bags into the cabin
under tough rules it says will speed up
the boarding process.
The budget airline said that the free
hand luggage allocation was in effect
being halved because of a lack of space
to store all bags in overhead lockers.
Under the new rules, any bag carried
on free of charge must be able to fit
under the seat in front — preventing
passengers from taking a wheeled suit-
case on board. The size limit will be 45
x 36 x 20cm, or about 32 litres.
Travellers who want to carry on a
larger bag will have to pay at least £7.
to reserve premium seats — those with
extra leg room or at the front of the air-
craft. The additional baggage alloca-
tion is included for passengers who pay
£215 a year for the Easyjet Plus frequent
flyer programme.
The change takes effect on February- Passengers who have already paid to
fly after that date — without buying a
premium seat — can check their bag in-
to the hold free of charge or pay extra.
The airline insisted that the policy
was being introduced to improve punc-
tuality. It said space in overhead lockers
was limited, creating problems when
too many people brought larger carry-
on bags into the cabin.
Only between 42 and 63 passengers
per flight will be able to pay extra for the
bigger baggage allocation, it said.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel
magazine, said: “While this decision
has been framed as a means of improv-
ing boarding and punctuality, airlines
make millions from flight add-ons, so
passengers would be forgiven for think-
ing this is nothing but Easyjet finding a
new way to get more cash out of them.
“With Easyjet primarily serving holi-day destinations, this new baggage al-
lowance will be of little use to many pas-
sengers, who will feel they have no
choice but to pay more.”
Rob Burgess, editor of Head for
Points, the frequent flyer website, said:
“It is disappointing to see Easyjet
following Ryanair and Wizz Air with
charges for overhead bins. A lot of their
core business passengers will find that
their laptop bag does not meet the
guidelines for fitting under their seat.
“With passenger demand not pre-
dicted to return to 2019 levels until at
least 2023, it seems foolish to alienate
customers in this way. British Airways
will be delighted to see some clear water
opening up between their policies and
their biggest UK competitor for short-
haul business passengers.”
Robert Carey, Easyjet’s chief com-
mercial officer, said: “Punctuality is im-
portant to our customers and we know
that if they have bags placed into the
hold at the gate due to the limited space
on board this can cause flight delays,
and can be frustrating for them too.
Our new policy will improve punctuali-
ty for everyone, as well as give our cus-
tomers certainty of what they will have
with them on board.”Ministers were accused of presiding
over a potential “catastrophe” yesterday
as it emerged that not enough customs
agents had been trained to handle a
surge in demand caused by Brexit.
Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office
minister, said yesterday that there had
been a fourfold increase in private-sec-
tor capacity to process the customs
forms that companies exporting to the
EU must fill in after the end of the year.
Official figures suggest, however, that
this could result in up to 100 million
consignments being sent across the
border without the right paperwork or
left waiting for the correct clearance.
MPs warned that there was a “risk of
serious disruption and delay” at Channel
crossings at the end of this month even
if a deal is struck with the EU. The
public accounts committee accused
ministers of “taking limited responsi-
bility” for national readiness, highlight-
ing a recent Whitehall survey thatBorder ‘catastrophe’ warning
over lack of customs agents
Oliver Wright Policy Editor
Bruno Waterfield Brusselsfound 36 per cent of small and medium-
sized firms expected the transition
period to be extended. The committee
said that this was despite the govern-
ment spending £4.4 billion on prepar-
ing for EU withdrawal.
“Pretending that things you don’t
want to happen are not going to happen
is not a recipe for government — it is a
recipe for disaster,” Meg Hillier, the
committee’s chairwoman, said. “We
can only hope that we are not facing a
catastrophe at the border.”
Mr Gove was asked how many of the
50,000 private-sector customs agents
promised had been recruited. He failed
to answer but cited research suggesting
that there had been a four-fold increase
in capacity of intermediaries who
process forms on behalf of exporters.
This suggests that they could handle up
to 158 million declarations a year, far
fewer than the 255 million forms that
will be needed for present trade levels.
As the Brexit negotiations continued
in London, Ursula von der Leyen, the
European Commission president, in-sisted that Britain would remain bound
“over time” by single-market rules as
the price of a tariff and quota-free deal.
She spelt out the EU’s “level playing
field” demands, which have been a
sticking point in negotiations and dis-
missed by the government as “unfair”.
“If our British friends want access to
the single market without quotas, and
without tariffs — so, total access to the
single market — then it must be clear
that all in the single market play by the
same rules,” she told MPs from national
parliaments. “We want an agreement,
but not at any price.”
President Macron linked an align-
ment to fish. “Preserving the activities
of our fishermen in British waters is an
essential condition,” he said.
A government spokeswoman said:
“We are making significant prepara-
tions for the guaranteed changes at the
end of the transition period, including
investing £705 million in jobs, techno-
logy and infrastructure at the border
and providing £84 million to boost the
customs intermediaries sector.”© TIMES NEWSPAPERS LIMITED, 2020.
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TODAY’S EDITION
LETTERS 30
LEADING ARTICLES 31
WORLD 32BUSINESS 37
REGISTER 53
COURT CIRCULAR 55SPORT 60
CROSSWORD 70
TV & RADIO TIMESFOLLOW US
thetimes timesandsundaytimes thetimesCOMMENT
The next US secretary of state has been a backer
of liberal interventionism and international rules
DANIEL FINKELSTEIN, PAGE 27
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Cloud and spots of rain in the
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THE WEATHER
2117294869876Another £825m
for Crossrail
Crossrail is to receive
a further £825 million
in an attempt to
complete the heavily
delayed project, with
warnings that more
cash may be needed.
The Department for
Transport has agreed
the loan to finish the
east-west line through
the capital. Page 6
Ruling on child
trans therapy
A gender clinic for
children suspended
referrals for hormone
therapy after High
Court judges ruled it
was “highly unlikely”
that 13-year-olds, and
“doubtful” that 14 or
15-year-olds, would
understand the full
implications of the
treatments. Page 7Puerto Rican
is Spotify No 1
Bad Bunny is the
most-streamed global
artist of 2020 on
Spotify. The Puerto
Rican rapper is one of
the world’s leading
reggaeton and Latin
trap vocalists, with a
fanbase that stretches
across the Spanish-
speaking world as well
as the US. Page 13Footsie on the
march again
Investment banks
advised their clients to
buy British shares
yesterday as world
stock markets rallied
again. Fresh from its
best month since 1989,
the FTSE 100 climbed
by 1.9 per cent, or
118.54 points, to
6,384.73 for its best day
in three weeks. Page 37Today’s
highlights
Listen for free DAB | Smart speaker | Online at times.radio | Times Radio app
12pm ‘PMQs Unpacked’ with Tim Shipman,
political editor of The Sunday Times2pm Mariella Frostrup chats to the
comedian and writer Andy Hamilton4pm John Pienaar exclusive interview
with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, on theday non-essential shops reopen in England
8.30pm The Ultravox singer Midge Ure, right
10pm MPs’ panel with the Conservative
Party’s Chris Green and Peter Kyle,the shadow justice minister
Threat to block
Biden’s pick
Republicans in the US
Senate are threatening
to block a nominee to
Joe Biden’s cabinet
over her “offensive”
tweets. Neera Tanden,
chosen for the White
House budget office,
also faces flak from the
left for in-fighting on
behalf of Hillary
Clinton. Page 32
MEP among sex
party arrests
A right-wing MEP and
ally of Viktor Orban,
the Hungarian prime
minister, was arrested
at an illegal sex party
in Brussels. Jozsef
Szajer was injured
jumping from a first-
floor window. Those
held were mostly men,
including European
diplomats. Page 33How much it costs to...
Choose a standard seat 99p to
£8.99 (depending on route)Extra legroom seat £7.99 to £34.
Check in bag up to 15kg £6.99 to
£35.Change name on booking £
Charge for infants (under two) £
Rescue fee (to book on to next flight
if arriving late at airport) £cant spare capacity all month in antici-
pation that many will want to be tested
before travelling. Two thirds of the
574,000 testing capacity went unused
on Monday and the system is expected
to carry out hundreds of thousands
more tests a day before a five-day relax-
ation of social distancing rules between
December 23 and 27.
Official advice remains that people
should only get a test if they have symp-
toms, but the rapid kits are being given
to councils in high-infection areas to
use on healthy people.
Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat
leader, asked Mr Johnson to “ensure
that anyone who wants to take a test to
confirm that they don’t have the virus
before they visit family members over
Christmas can have a test on the NHS”.
Mr Johnson replied: “I would urge
people who are worried... to seek to get
a rapid turnaround test.”
Officials insisted that there had been
no change in policy.
Coronavirus reports, pages 8-
It is inhumane to bar carers from
hospitals, Thunderer, page 28cabinet ministers, including Greg
Clark, Jeremy Wright, Damian Green
and David Davis.
In a Zoom call to 200 Tory MPs an
hour before the vote, Mr Johnson said
he understood the nation’s impatience
for “coronavirus to be over”, comparing
it to a child at the end of a six-hour
journey asking: “Are we there yet?”
Matt Hancock, the health secretary,
also gave an emotional speech at the
dispatch box as he revealed that Derek,
his step-grandfather, died in Liverpool
from coronavirus last month.
Mr Clark, the Conservative MP for
Tunbridge Wells, which is in Tier 3 de-
spite low infection rates, challenged the
prime minister to move boroughs down
a tier if they met the five tests set by the
government. Mr Johnson replied: “We
will look in granular detail at local inci-
dence... and take account of exactly
what is happening every two weeks.”
Johnson must tell us the truth,
Sir Keir Starmer, page 9continued from page 1
Care home visits
continued from page 1
Tiers vote