Grant Shapps

The decision to make travellers from Portugal quarantine may be “politically motivated”, an infection expert has said. Portugal will be moved from the green to amber travel list, requiring visitors and returning holidaymakers to quarantine in the UK from 4am on Tuesday. The UK’s transport secretary Grant Shapps blamed a rising infection rate and the […]

Transport minister Grant Shapps has suggested the government is considering whether to build a 50-mile tunnel to connect Ireland and Wales. In an interview with the Financial Times, Shapps said the tunnel would be an alternative to the prime minister’s plan to link Scotland with Northern Ireland. When questioned on the idea of linking Northern […]

Transport secretary Grant Shapps, who defended Dominic Cummings after his trip to Barnard Castle during lockdown last year, has admitted the former aide had undermined the government’s public health message. “I thought he was right at the time to stand by his family, to go into effective quarantine, and that’s what he did,” Shapps told […]

European Council president Charles Michel said Minsk was playing “Russian roulette” after a Ryanair flight was diverted and a prominent critic arrested in Belarus. Journalist Roman Protasevich was on board a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday when it was forced to change course to head for the Belarussian capital after a reported […]

The creation of a new public sector body to oversee Britain’s railways will simplify a system that is “too complicated”, transport secretary Grant Shapps has claimed. Great British Railways (GBR) will own and manage rail infrastructure, issue contracts to private firms to run trains, set most fares and timetables, and sell tickets. It will absorb […]

Rishi Sunak has been defended by a fellow Cabinet minister amid calls for an investigation after text messages showed he “pushed” officials to consider plans that could have helped a firm David Cameron was lobbying for. Labour questioned whether the chancellor had broken the ministerial code, while the SNP urged Mr Sunak to appear before […]

Greenpeace has condemned Boris Johnson’s plans to ditch taxes on short-distance domestic flights after pledging to help the environment. A review today reveals No 10 is considering cutting Air Passenger Duty on domestic flights under plans to boost connectivity within the UK. Johnson said he wanted to “build back better” after the coronavirus crisis in a […]

The UK will not take the lead in rescuing Eurostar as it is majority-owned by France, a cabinet minister has said. Transport secretary Grant Shapps told MPs that the government is “very keen for Eurostar to survive” but insisted “it’s not our company”. The cross-Channel rail operator revealed in November that it is “fighting for […]

Implementing tougher Australia-style border closures would not help the UK tackle the coronavirus pandemic, transport secretary Grant Shapps has insisted. The cabinet minister said the UK’s proximity to continental Europe means it is important that vital goods and people continue to move in and out of the country. The government has faced criticism for not […]

The transport secretary has been criticised after claiming he was “not aware” the Brazilian strain of coronavirus was in the UK – despite scientists going public about two cases hours later. Shapps described a ban on travel from South America, which includes an exemption for British and Irish nationals, as a “precautionary” measure to ensure […]

A seafood exporter has said the government has been “useless” at providing information to help businesses deal with new regulations caused by Brexit. Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, which represents chilled transport and storage companies, said hauliers were encountering issues at Britain’s borders despite the amount of cross border traffic still being quite […]

Home secretary Priti Patel appeared to admit in television interviews that the numbers of lorries stuck in Kent waiting to cross to France is far greater than the numbers quoted by transport secretary Grant Shapps. More than 40 countries have banned flights from the UK due to a mutant variant of coronavirus spreading through the […]

Boris Johnson has been criticised after being caught on camera laughing at the prospect of a no-deal Brexit at the latest daily Downing Street briefing. The prime minister laughed at a question from ITV’s Robert Peston when he asked about whether the UK was likely to leave the EU in the next week with a […]

Transport minister Grant Shapps has dimissed a call to “look at” extending the Brexit transition period to allow for the UK to deal with the Covid-19 chaos. Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Shapps rejected calls from Nicola Sturgeon to ensure the UK is “100%” focused on the coronavirus over the coming weeks. He said: “Nah, I […]

France’s ban on freight hauliers from the UK was “slightly surprising”, the transport secretary has said. Grant Shapps told Sky News on Monday that while the disruption was not a “specific problem” in the short term, the key was to “get it resolved”. He said: “Immediately as soon as the French said, perhaps slightly surprisingly […]

Grant Shapps has fallen short of promising the public that Brexit would not affect the delivery of the coronavirus vaccine currently being developed in the EU. The transport secretary said he remained somewhat confident Britons would have access to the Pfizer vaccine being produced in Belgium. Earlier this week, the government announced coronavirus vaccine trials […]

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said that Dominic Cummings “will be missed” when he leaves No 10 but “advisers do come and go”. Asked why Boris Johnson’s chief adviser will be departing, Shapps told Sky News: “As he wrote right at the beginning of the year in his own words, he planned to make himself […]

Flights between the UK and the EU could be grounded when the Brexit transition period ends, transport secretary Grant Shapps has admitted.   The cabinet minister said it is “critical” that air links are not severed, stressing the “mutual importance of aviation and travel”. Both sides agreed prior to the first scheduled Brexit date of March […]

A new contract to provide post-Brexit freight capacity has been handed to four ferry firms at a cost of £77.6 million. The Department for Transport (DfT) announced that it has signed agreements with Brittany Ferries, DFDS, P&O Ferries and Stena Line. This will ensure that vital medical supplies and other critical goods “continue to be […]

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has been mocked after suggesting the removal of graffiti from trains will see more people take the train. BBC News reports the minister told rail bosses to do more to crack down on such acts to encourage more to start using trains again.He claimed that maintaining stations to a high standard […]