This U-turn on quarantine for travellers does not inspire confidence in Boris Johnson

Editorial: Ministers seem to have veered from a policy that is too restrictive for a minority to one that is not restrictive at all

Travel restrictions to European countries are to be reversed (EPA)

Boris Johnson’s reputation for unsteadiness is further enhanced by the news that travel restrictions to European countries including Spain, France and Greece are to be reversed on 6 July.

The quarantine plan for international travellers never made much sense. If the intention was to stop all people with coronavirus from entering the country, this was undermined by the many exemptions, particularly for lorry drivers. It seemed to be more of a sop to lockdown-happy public opinion, which takes a cautious view of the disease.

That caution is understandable enough, but the purpose of opinion polling, for a government, is not to tell it what to do but how it should communicate. A fortress-island Britain is a superficially appealing idea, but it would be disastrous for jobs, livelihoods and other, non-Covid, aspects of health and wellbeing.