Can you Dad come for Christmas from London?

[friendlyflicka]

He is 89, just had first vaccine, hasn't seen anyone all year. He is desperate to come to me. I am a single parent not bubbled with anyone else.

Dad was due to come on Christmas Eve in a pre-booked black cab with partition etc. I was going to drive him back from Somerset on Boxing Day.

I am not asking whether he should come. He is aware of the risks and is adamant he wants to come.

Is it legal? I would definitely deem him to at 'extreme risk of loneliness' and he has aged a lot this year and I thinks considers this Christmas could easily be his last. I have offered other way round: for me to come down for a day before Christmas but he really wants to come to me....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518
The rest of the rules are in the link

I'm in the opposite situation. I'm a single person and my support bubble is in Tier 4. No idea what this means.

Of course you must have him if it's logistically possibe. Sounds v low risk and he's your dad. Have a lovely christmas x

@HundredMilesAnHour yes you can have a support bubble with someone in another area. Some of us are entirely alone with no friends or family to form a support bubble with in the same county and it’s perfectly allowed (just advised to form locally where possible).

OP I’m in a similar position - it’s so hard. I think the two conflicting things are advice not to travel from tier 4, but equally being told support bubbles are still allowed (while Christmas bubbles cancelled). I’m currently making the tough decision to cancel the one person I was going to see but in your circumstances I would t judge you abs doubt there would be legal repercussions. Good luck.

Go get him

I would do it OP wether it's technically legal or not.

I think yes he can, from my reading, support bubbles can be maintained even in tier 4.
He’s had the vaccine, he doesn’t need to spend Xmas on his own x

Can he be in your bubble, OP?

Regardless, I think in cases like this, he should come to you as planned.

If he’s in your support bubble, he is legally allowed to be with you

You can support bubble but if your kids are in school is it really worth the risk? The whole issue is that it's too dangerous to meet up.

Yes he can. Boris said exceptions are those with extreme isolation

The BBC link is absolutely clear
Support bubbles remain unaffected, as do the exemptions for separated parents and their children.

I get he’s lonely - but he’s so close to being fully protected when he gets his 2nd vaccine in a few weeks - I wouldn’t risk! Can’t he just wait a l take longer? Have him for a big family get together / Christmas in jan when he’s had the vaccine !!

Imagine if you infect him and he dies and if you’d just held on one more month it could have been avoided 😩

Has he been in your support bubble before now?

I think we might be in a similar position. We are tier 4 and MIL is meant to be coming for the Christmas period. MiL is in a different county that has just gone into tier 4. I'm waiting to see what the exemptions are for carers or what is best. Either way I'm not looking forward to having this conversation with her as she is so lonely.

So difficult as we want to keep MIL safe but with rising numbers the last 2 weeks we really don't know that she should be travelling to us, DH would pick her up in the car. How do you explain to an 85 year old widow that she might be on her own on Christmas day? Even though my MIL can be challenging my teenager has said 'this really is going to be a rubbish Christmas'.

Thanks very much. Maybe there will be more guidance tomorrow.

For those saying 'is it worth the risk?' I have tried to make other arrangements. For him who is a very clever and aware man, he clearly thinks it is worth the risk. The alternative, if it is still legal, is that I refuse to have him. Would you do that to your totally alone 89 parent who is obviously desperate for some company?

Let him come

The support bubble rules are unchanged

if you need to alter the support bubble, there is a 10 day cooling off between families

eg brother 1 has been support bubble all year
tests positive

so brother 2 will take over for Christmas
so long as single vulnerable person
has not been near Brother 1
for 10 days

Bubbles allowed in all tiers, both you and your dad qualify for needing a support bubble.

If he is in your support bubble you could meet up after Christmas and once he has had his second vaccination, so have a delayed Christmas. Have you been isolating before now?

On the BBC link, it says that you can't go from tier 4 to a tier 2/3 bubble.

HOWEVER, if he's made peace with it being his last Christmas, it's a decision for him. At 89, I couldn't begrudge him.

If I was in your situation I would let him come OP.

The taxi driver has said he will take him. speaking to him on the phone made me cry because he sounded like that Yellow Pages advertisement with the old man. Unless something very definite comes to to change, I am definitely going ahead with it.

Of course people who don't live locally can be your support bubble. My mum is still my mum even if she lives two hours away. If she needs help I go there and she comes here frequently. She neither has nor wants someone else.

The emotion is giving me a lot of typos....

Let him come OP, he will be classed as being in your bubble due to his isolation.