BORIS Johnson has rejected calls for a new "Amber Watchlist" travel tier and called for holiday advice to be made "as simple as possible" for Brits heading abroad.
His plea came just hours after bumbling junior minister suggested the travel traffic lights scheme could become a rainbow "spectrum" of warning levels instead.
Officials had been pushing for a new layer to be added to the red, amber and green system to give holiday makers warning that their destination could soon go red – but critics said it would be too complicated.
However today Mr Johnson publicly called for the system to be a simple and “user friendly” as possible, with insiders saying the original three tier traffic light system is preferable.
It also means that the ‘Amber plus” sub category will also likely go, with France returning to the usual amber category.
Boris said: “I obviously understand that people care very much about the holidays.
“People want to go abroad, I understand how much people plan, prepare for the summer holidays, but we've also got to remember that it's still a dangerous virus.
“We must stop importing variants from abroad and we have to have a balanced approach and what I want to see is something that is as simple and as user friendly for people as possible.”
Downing Street’s ploy to simplify the way the globe is carved up came just hours after a smug minister declared travel rules "are not complicated" as he hinted traffic light system could be split into SIX levels.
Junior minister Matt Warman defended the “spectrum of countries going green to red” adding: “I don't accept that it's complicated.”
Holiday firms and airlines welcomed the PM’s intervention to make goingon holiday easier.
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Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, who represents BA, Easyjet and Ryainair said the decision would be a “victory for common sense.”
“The PM has hit the nail on the head – people want a clear and consistent travel system that they can understand and that is workable."
He said: “The PM has hit the nail on the head – people want a clear and consistent travel system that they can understand and that is workable.
“We now need to go further and set our sights on the real prize this week – getting more countries onto that green list before it’s too late.”
Tory MPs said the government had risked creating more travel chaos by creating a "rainbow" list of nations.
Henry Smith said: "If you add extra layers in a traffic light so it becomes almost like a rainbow that it just creates confusion which is unnecessary."
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