PARIS: France could stop British travelers from entering the country if Britain fails to lockdown to battle the coronavirus, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Tuesday.
He said if Britain did not take similar measures to France then “we would find it hard to accept on our territory British citizens who move freely in their own country and then come to France.”
France began a lockdown on Tuesday set to last at least two weeks that prohibits all non-essential traveling.
Britain has yet to adopt such measures with schools remaining open and travel largely unrestricted.
“If we want to be coherent, we need all those who are inside the European zone to adopt methods and processes that are coherent to fight against the epidemic. Italy, France and Spain have chosen confinement,” said Philippe.
The EU is imposing an entry ban to its territory for an initial period of 30 days but it is not due to affect citizens of former EU member Britain or non-EU members of the passport-free Schengen zone.
France mulls UK travel ban over coronavirus
https://arab.news/24hsj
France mulls UK travel ban over coronavirus
- France began a lockdown on Tuesday set to last at least two weeks that prohibits all non-essential traveling
Trump ‘very disappointed’ with UK’s Starmer for blocking use of air bases, Telegraph says
- UK PM then said bases could be used in “defensive” operations
- Trump says it took “too long” for Starmer to change his mind
LONDON: Donald Trump said he was “very disappointed” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not allowing the US to use the Diego Garcia air base to carry out strikes on Iran, the Daily Telegraph quoted the US president as saying in an interview.
Britain had reportedly initially denied the US permission to conduct air strikes from its bases, but on Sunday evening Starmer said he was accepting a request for their use in any “defensive” strikes the US wanted to make against Iranian targets.
In an interview published on Monday Trump told the British newspaper that it took “too long” for Starmer to change his mind.
“That’s probably never happened between our countries before,” he told the Telegraph, adding: “It sounds like he was worried about the legality.”
Trump said Starmer should have approved from the get-go the American use of Diego Garcia — a strategically important US-UK air base in the Indian Ocean — saying Iran was responsible for killing “a lot of people from your country.”
Britain was not involved in the joint US-Israel air strikes on Iran that killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Since attacks on Iran started on Saturday, Iran has been targeting Gulf countries with missiles, and on Sunday an Iranian-made drone hit Britain’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus, causing limited damage and no casualties.
Trump said it was “useful” that the US would now be able to launch operations from Diego Garcia, as he also criticized a deal Starmer has made over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, where Diego Garcia is based.
