South Africa and the southern African nations have been added to the red list due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus. However, the Omicron variant is present in many countries outside these nations yet they have not been added to the red list.

This action by the UK government, while swift, is disproportionate, targeted against developing nations at a time they need the support of developed countries most and appears to penalise countries that have done the right thing for the global population.

Until evidence that this variant is proven to be more threatening to human welfare, the borders should be freely open, allowing families to reunite after years apart, and ensure that Boris meets his commitment that this Christmas will be better than last, for all.