Covid: 'Not practical' to close UK borders, says Boris Johnson

It is "not practical" to completely close the UK's borders given the amount of medicines and food imported into the country, the prime minister has said. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for tougher restrictions to prevent new coronavirus variants entering the UK. Boris Johnson said the government had already tightened travel restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus. He said it would be going ahead with its plan for quarantine hotels for people arriving from Covid hotspots. It is not yet clear when the scheme - announced a week ago - will start or when there will be further details. Sir Keir said government scientists had recommended "a complete pre-emptive closure of borders". In response, Johnson said: "Actually, Sage (the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies) did not recommend a complete ban and they say travel bans should not be relied upon to stop the importation of new variants. But we do have one of the toughest regimes in the world."<br/>