Read on Twitter
To my British journo friends, some questions worth asking as you cover new UK border closures and quarantine rules. Mostly... what about transnational families? 
1/who knows
1/who knows
Re: self-funded quarantines. Has the govt considered British citizens and residents abroad who now need to return and weren't pre-warned of the added expense? Will there be funding for people who just don't have £1,750 extra right now? 2/
Will that funding be free or a loan? If a loan under what conditions? Will hotels be left holding the bag if people can't pay? Or HMRC? What is the tender process for quarantine hotels? 3/
What is the govt's plan to expand the number of quarantine rooms available? 4,600 rooms sounds laughable. Australia capped its international arrivals at 4,000 a week -- they have a backlog worth months of Australians stranded abroad. 4/
Is the government working with airlines to guarantee affordable flights for British returnees? Airlines will lose money if planes can't be filled. In Australia, airlines just canceled flights or bumped people who didn't pay outrageously expensive business class upgrades. 5/
What mental health provisions were made for people in quarantine? Do hotel rooms have outdoor space, windows that open and room for exercise? Are hotels required to provide healthy and fresh food? Can they receive deliveries? Will healthcare be on hand? 6/
What of children in hotel quarantine? Will they receive specific attention? How will they be able to access schooling and play? 7/
Will the govt consider exceptional circumstances for transnational families: a dying parent abroad, families going through international adoption, a study abroad kid needing to return, expats going on their 3rd year not seeing family? 8/
What is the govt's plan for ending these measures? What is the schedule for review and where are the goalposts for ending them? 9/
Will the Home Office suspend the time-spent-in-UK requirements for British immigrants currently abroad who may lose their residency rights? 10/
Will British embassies support British citizens stranded abroad by these measures and whose visas will expire? What if they lose their jobs, their income or their housing? 11/
I could go and on. Point is, yes, international travel helps spread the virus. How big a part it plays when the horses are already way out the barn is debated. (I did an episode on that btw: https://borderlinepod.com/episodes/do-travel-bans-even-work.) Restricting it is not a bad idea but... 12/
... we have a model for how not to do this. Australia's international arrival restrictions have been cruel. Canberra abandoned 10s of thousands of its own citizens and Australians at home have generally not care much. 13/
Meanwhile, other countries have been left dealing with broke, undocumented and homeless Australians. We have a model for what not to do and what questions to ask. Let's ask them. 14/
And if I care, it might be bc I've talked to a woman who had to watch her dad die on Facetime, an elderly woman slowly losing her mind on the other side of the world and a man separated from his children for months just because he had to bury his dad. https://borderlinepod.com/episodes/07-the-plight-of-stranded-australians 15/
