Heathrow crowding due to Covid test checks on passengers, says Priti Patel

A row over health risks from Heathrow passport queues broke out on Tuesday as Priti Patel said the crowding was the result of increased checking of passengers for Covid test results. The Home Secretary was challenged by MPs over crowds at Heathrow over the weekend as some 10,000 arrivals a day crammed into the immigration hall in which Border Force had introduced checks of incoming passengers' pre-departure tests and locator forms. Yvette Cooper, who chairs the home affairs committee, said the crowds, with passengers struggling to socially distance, were unsafe and "the very opposite of quarantine". Patel responded: "The fact of the matter is those queues materialised because of the compliance checks that Border Force had put in place." The Home Secretary said Border Force was working with Heathrow to maintain social distancing as officials sought to check 100 per cent of passengers arriving to ensure they had negative results from pre-departure tests and locator forms to confirm where they would be quarantining. Data shows more than one in five non-EU arrivals were having to queue for more than 45 minutes during December.<br/>