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Scotland is "considering" relaxing restrictions for fully-vaccinated travellers arriving from amber list countries, in line with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps' announcement this morning.

"But it needs to be fair and deliverable," the Scottish government said.

“Where possible we will look to adopt a four nation approach for the re-opening of international travel," it said.

"However, decisions on border health measures are a devolved matter and will be taken by ministers on the basis of evidence and with the safety of our communities as our primary concern.”

It added that if the clinical and scientific advice is that it is safe and appropriate to treat vaccinated travellers differently, it would consider changes to the restrictions and will "make an announcement on that shortly".

Chris Bockman, Toulouse

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France’s transport minister says things could ease soon for British tourists wanting to visit the country.

A meeting with his British counterpart Grant Shapps is due to take place, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari tells the BBC.

The UK is on France’s orange list, and the UK has amber-listed France.

Djebbari is suggesting that they could shift each other to their green lists.

“With the vaccination campaign advancing well in both France and UK there could be a co-ordinated decision soon to lift the UK from the orange list," he says.

“We are looking at the evolution of the health situation and want to make a decision as quickly as we can.”

Currently, those fully vaccinated can enter France if they have evidence of a negative PCR test taken less than 72 hours before travel, or negative lateral flow test less than 48 hours old.

Unvaccinated arrivals must have an “essential” reason for visiting France, must quarantine for seven days and then take another PCR test. Those tests have been free, but now France is introducing a fee.

The more contagious Delta variant, widespread in the UK, accounts for 40% of all new Covid cases in France.

The French government is urging its citizens not to travel to Spain or Portugal this summer even if vaccinated, as those destinations have seen a surge in Delta cases.

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Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has given a Covid-19 briefing alongside Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith.

She said the recent surge in new Covid infections appears to be levelling off, as 2,802 cases were recorded in Scotland on Thursday - a drop from the 3,799 logged on Wednesday.

She said this gave her cause for optimism that Scotland can move to level zero of restrictions on 19 July.

However she stressed there would still be a need for "care and caution" with measures such as the use of face masks and physical distancing remaining in place for some time.

The Scottish Parliament will be recalled from recess next Tuesday for Ms Sturgeon to announce whether the easing of restrictions will go ahead as planned.

The Scottish government's route map out of lockdown would see the whole of the country move to level zero of restrictions , externalon 19 July, before scrapping most legal curbs altogether on 9 August.

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Fully-vaccinated adults and under-18s will no longer have to quarantine on their return to England from amber list countries from 19 July.

So how do you prove you have had both jabs?

People in England can do this by requesting an NHS Covid Pass via the NHS website, external or the NHS app., external

This is different to the NHS Covid-19 app, , externalwhich is used for contact tracing. You must be registered with a GP surgery to use the NHS app.

Once logged in you can request an NHS Covid Pass. The system generates a QR code, which lasts for 28 days. You can download a PDF copy or have it emailed to you.

We've got all the detail here.

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Today's foreign travel announcement is "a positive move towards the genuine reopening the sector has been looking for," says Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK.

"The summer season essentially starts here," says Alderslade, who heads the industry body representing UK-registered carriers.

"Opening up the market for the rest of the summer, this announcement will provide far greater opportunities to travel, do business and see family and friends, and enable many more of our customers to book with certainty," he says.

"Airlines look forward to working with ministers and Border Force to ensure measures are in place by 19 July to provide a safe and streamlined experience at the UK border.

"We now urge the Government to continue this momentum by adding many more countries to the green list next week and removing onerous testing requirements at its next review on 31 July, thereby opening up more non-quarantine travel to all."

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As we've been reporting, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced new Covid travel rules for people in England.

Let's take a look at the new measures for amber-list countries in more detail.

• From 19 July, double-vaccinated people returning to England from amber-list countries will no longer need to self-isolate for 10 days
• But they will still need to pay for a Covid test three days before returning to England and a PCR test two days after arriving - however there will no longer be a test on day eight
• Travellers will have to show proof of vaccination in the past 14 days in the form of the NHS Covid Pass or via a letter
• Children under the age of 18 will no longer have to self-isolate

You can read our full explainer of the rules for amber, red and green-list countries here.

The head of the UK Health Security Agency has said some people are choosing no longer to use the NHS Covid app.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said people in England will still be required to self-isolate if they come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the disease until 16 August - four weeks after lockdown restrictions are lifted - even if they are fully vaccinated.

Asked by MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee whether some people have been deleting the app, Dr Jenny Harries says: "I am aware that people are choosing not to use the app."

She says the app has resulted in 500,000 cases of the disease being detected and it is important that people continue to use it.

"We are a seeing rise in cases so this is not an inconvenience, it's actually to alert people to the fact that they have been in close contact and that they may be at risk of being infected themselves and passing that infection on to other people," she says.

What next for the NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app?

• Concern is continuing to grow over rising cases of the Delta variant in a number of European countries. In France, government spokesman Gabriel Attal says the variant now represents about 40% of new Covid-19 infections – up from 20% last week
• A French minister has also urged citizens to avoid going on holidays in Spain and Portugal because of the spread of the variant in both countries
• The Dutch government has said it will consider whether it needs to introduce new restrictions after the number of daily infections rose within a week from just over 600 to 3,688. Health minister Hugo de Jonge says most cases have been recorded in people under the age of 30. The Netherlands ended most rules, including mandatory masks and restrictions on numbers in bars and restaurants on 26 June as the infections decreased
• Children ages between 12 and 15 will be able to receive a vaccination in the Belgian region of Wallonia this month, the local health minister has said. The vaccines will not be mandatory and will require parental permission.

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More than two in five people in England who needed to see a GP in the past 12 months avoided making an appointment, according to a survey.

The most common reason was worry about the burden on the NHS (20%), followed by concern over catching Covid-19 (17%) and difficulties in making an appointment (11%).

The figures are part of NHS England's annual patient survey and are based on responses from people aged 16 and over, between January and April.

They suggest while 42% of people avoided making a GP appointment, more than two-thirds found it easy to get through to their surgery by phone (68%, up from 65% in the 2020 survey).

Some 59% said they saw or spoke to someone at a time they wanted to or sooner (up from 56%).

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The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has finished giving his statement and then answering questions from MPs on the new travel rules for double-jabbed passengers arriving back in England. Here's what we've learned:

• Fully vaccinated UK residents arriving in England from amber travel list destinations will no longer have to quarantine from 19 July
• They still need to pay for PCR tests before and after their return but will not need a day 8 test
• The rules apply to people 14 days after their final dose of the vaccine
• Under-18s returning from amber list places will also be exempt from quarantine

• The guidance that people should not travel to amber list countries will also be removed from 19 July
• The next review of countries on the green, red and amber lists will be on 15 July - next Thursday
• But "an amber list country could still turn red", warns Shapps meaning hotel quarantine would become a requirement
• Anyone arriving in England from a red list country must still go into government managed hotel quarantine

You can read about the rules on international travel in more detail here.

Patricia Gibson of the SNP mentions travel insurance and quotes the consumer body Which? as having found that travellers are being left with the "false impression" of the level of protection they would get in the event of Covid-related disruption to their plans.

She asks if Shapps will work with the insurance industry to ensure passengers can travel with confidence and have the right level of cover to protect their plans.

Shapps says there has been some "cajoling" to ensure the travel insurance industry can be in the right place. He adds it is "very important" the government is "on the side" of consumers, and that ministers want to see "flexibility" in the system.

He commits to doing everything he can to help and accepts Gibson's offer of setting up a meeting between her, the aviation minister and other appropriate figures to discuss the issue.

Image source, Parliament TV

Conservative MP Stephen Hammond asks if a country is on the amber list on 31 July whether it will still be on the amber list until 1 October.

He also asks how quickly the UK will be able to join schemes to allow all foreign fully-vaccinated travellers to come to the UK.

Shapps says an amber country could in theory switch to being a red list country and he can provide no guarantee there will be no changes between now and October.

He says: "Nonetheless I think most people realise at this stage that the path of the coronavirus is unpredictable and I hope that this double vaccination measure provides some reassurance."

If you're just catching up here's the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announcing that from 19 July people who have immunity two weeks after having both jabs will no longer have to quarantine on return to England from an amber list country.

Martyn Day of the SNP says previous "failures" by the UK government have left the nation vulnerable to new Covid variants and asks Shapps how the ending of quarantine rules takes account of stopping future strains coming in and how this may impact the ability of UK citizens to travel later on.

Shapps insists the UK has some of the "most rigorous border checks in place" and says the new measures will still require a pre-departure Covid test and a PCR test on or before day two, in addition to the other guidance in place.

Image source, Parliament TV

Labour MP Sarah Owen says the government's hotel quarantine policy has been an "utter mess" and the handling of complaints and legitimate calls for exemption have been "painfully slow through official channels".

She says: "I've had toddlers without milk, kids so poorly nourished in these hotels that ambulances have been called out, some people have been left without access to water and families in Luton are being charged nearly £2,500 for this."

She asks: "Who is making a profit on these astronomical charges and why is there no discount for people on low incomes?"

Shapps says the figure charged at the moment does not make a profit for the government and is still being subsidised.

He says people should not be travelling to red list countries.

He says: "The only people who should be coming back to government quarantine are British and Irish citizens or people with permanent rights of residence and there should be a limit to the number of people who are abroad and wishing to return."

He says some people are still using the red list as if 'it's OK I can come back and hotel quarantine'. "That should not be the case," he says.

But if Owen has individual cases he is happy to look at them and pass them on to the department of health that manages the hotel quarantine system, he says.

Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter, welcomes Shapps's announcement, saying it finally restores to the UK some of the freedoms "our European neighbours and Americans have been enjoying for some considerable time".

But he says the UK's lack of immediate reciprocity for other countries means "they are less likely to open up to us any time soon".

He asks "why, when many European countries already accept our vaccine passport, are we incapable of accepting theirs now?"

The transport secretary says he is working closely with his European counterparts, and wants to have the first UK vaccine verification phase in place as quickly as possible.

But he adds the government will continue working with other countries, particularly on the EU digital passport, as quickly as possible.

Senior Tory backbencher Mark Harper says he welcomes Shapps' statement, but asks for his judgment on whether the measures will allow the aviation sector "to stand on its own feet" or whether we will need to put "significant sums of public money into it".

Shapps replies the UK is "leading the way" around the world in opening up domestically, saying "it is time to learn to live with" Covid as the nation has more advantages than it did last year, including easily available testing and the vaccine rollout.

He says to answer Harper's question he has had discussions with the aviation sector and while many had downsized, they were now ready to upsize again.

Image source, Parliament TV

SNP spokesman Gavin Newlands MP says Shapps is being "just a little disingenuous" when he says the aviation industy tells him this support is welcome and they need to get flying again.

"What he didn't say is that industry is still crying out for further support because most of the industry has not had grant support despite being the hardest hit sector in the economy," says Newlands.

He says at Glasgow Airport in his constituency 2,000 jobs have gone as well as 1,000 jobs connected to aviation.

He says the Scottish summer season is well over two weeks old and by the time these rules kick in for England teachers in Scotland will be back in school three weeks later so it's a very short window so the government must extend furlough.

He says the Scottish government is cautiously supportive of exploring options for the easing of restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from amber list countries but only if clinical advice supports it and if systems are in place to ensure the safety of the Scottish population.

He says there has been a change of pace in return to international travel now the new health secretary is in place but asks how it will work if England rushes to restart travel with cases rising and countries close their borders to us.

He also asks if masks will be compulsory on airplanes and public transport.

Huw Merriman, Conservative chairman of the Transport select committee, says the announcement is a "much-needed shot in the arm" for those who have had both Covid jabs, and for an industry that had been "laid low" during the pandemic.

But he asks the transport secretary to "keep an eye" on testing as "0.4% of those who have come back from amber list countries have tested positive for Covid" adding the costs of testing are still a "barrier" for those wanting to travel and whether lateral flow tests could be a better option instead of PCR tests.

Shapps responds by saying there will be a further review of the rules on 31 July.

Addressing Merriman's point about testing, he says current scientific evidence shows PCR testing - in addition to being more accurate than lateral flow tests - allows scientists to quickly sequence the virus to check for new variants.

Former prime minister Theresa May asks Shapps if he will guarantee every effort will be made to bring in extra border force resources and deploy staff in different ways - including changing rotas - to ensure a smooth movement of people through our borders.

The transport secretary says he should be more specific about where travellers might expect queues.

He says check-in will be done "upstream" before boarding aircraft, trains and boats in the location people are coming back from.

So the queues at those places abroad will be "where those problems will most exist", he says.

Shapps says many airlines are working to further automate that check-in process.

Those check-in points are where a lot of work will be done checking passenger locator forms against booked tests required on day two - and vaccine status.

"I just think it's fair to warn people who are travelling this summer that this is something we haven't had to do before."