Cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng has said he is “not completely relaxed” about thousands overseas fans and Uefa officials entering the UK for the remaining Euro 2020 matches at Wembley.
Asked on LBC whether he was happy about an estimated 10,000 VIPs and fans from other countries attending the final later this month, the business secretary said: “I’m not completely relaxed – none of these decisions are easy.”
Concerns have been raised about plans to grant 2,500 of Uefa officials and tournament sponsors special exemptions from the UK’s standard Covid travel rules.
Challenged over the exemptions, Mr Kwarteng replied: “What do we do? Do we scrap the tournament, or do we allow it to take place? We’ve allowed to take place. Uefa have made the case for people coming in.”
Germany's interior minister described it as "absolutely irresponsible" for Uefa to allow more than 40,000 fans into Wembley Stadium to watch England play Germany on Tuesday.
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Horst Seehofer, who is also responsible for sport, said the decision was motivated by money urged that "commerce must not outshine the protection of the population against infection".
Uefa sources last week refused to rule out moving the matches away from Wembley if no agreement could be reached over VIPs and overseas fans, with Budapest suggested as a possible alternative.
Wembley will host 60,000 fans for both the semi-finals and the final, the government confirmed last week. The new levels mean the stadium will be at 75 per cent capacity for those final three games.
Overseas fans coming to the UK for the Euros matches will not exempt from the country’s quarantine rules.
All fans will only be allowed into Wembley as long as they can prove they have had two Covid vaccine doses, or have recently tested negative.
Mr Kwarteng said the plan to boost the capacity at Wembley would “absolutely” still go ahead – despite the recent outbreak of Covid among Scotland fans. Around 400 Scots who were at Wembley earlier this month later tested positive for the virus.
“The key to dealing with the coronavirus is the vaccination,” the minister told Sky News. “That’s what’s giving us the protection we need to fight this terrible virus.”
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng
(PA Archive)
Mr Kwarteng also defended new travel rules allowing top business leaders to dodge the 10-day quarantine when arriving in the UK, claiming that he was competing with French president Emmanuel Macron.
“All round the world people are competing for investment,” he told LBC. “I was reading stories two weeks ago about president Macron inviting huge number of people to Paris to invest in the French economy.”
“You’re not telling me, as business secretary, that I should sit idly by while President Macron attracts huge amount of investment and creates jobs in France … Britain has to compete.”