Who are all these people queuing at Heathrow?

[beckypv]

Just that really. I’m not being funny, but who are all these people stuck in the queues at Heathrow? They just showed images of it on the 6 o clock news..... and it looked awful.... where are all these people coming from? I have no problem with people queuing for as long as it takes to do it properly ...... but I just can’t fathom the number of people there!

My brother has traveled in and out of HR throughout LD, not essential travel at all, just wants family time from his work in the ME, maybe 4 or 5 times since last spring, he isn't alone either, most of his uk colleagues do similar.

Whoever said that without passengers travelling through HR we'd all starve is probably wrong

On a planet where I still need to pay rent which can only happen if I continue working? In other European countries the arts aren’t completely shut. It’s called work, therefore it’s allowed. What do you suggest I do, turn down work?

People working in the oil and gas sector. My husband goes through Heathrow every 3 weeks. All of my friends’ husbands do the same, brothers, Dads, cousins etc. The oil and gas industry is a major employer in my area and most of the men now work abroad.

That was to @Eyjafjallajokulldottir

@EileenGC of course not, but it's not exactly essential to running the country is it? And the point of the op is to question whether all of the travellers in and out of Heathrow are essential workers. It would seem a fair few are just on their jollies. Which is nice 🤔

[quote EL8888]@rawalpindithelabrador it’s hardly a hair shirt. It’s called following guidelines and not being selfish. Going to Germany is hardly essential[/quote]
Could entirely be for a good many people, work, medical treatment (particularly with Covid dominating the NHS but even before that), have a child there, visa renewal. 'Selfish' being thrown around is a non sequitur, plenty of people have quite essential business abroad, not to mention the supplies we need from other countries that need to be brought in, by, you know, people, or work that can only be done by people from abroad.

@EileenGC

On a planet where I still need to pay rent which can only happen if I continue working? In other European countries the arts aren’t completely shut. It’s called work, therefore it’s allowed. What do you suggest I do, turn down work?

Apparently so, Eileen, you're not essential. So selfish, wanting to pay your bills and not go on UC! Why don't you know, there are tons of jobs going begging here all over, right outside your door.

I'm sure your landlord will be fine waiting for your UC to pay out and if you can't find the top up you need to pay the rent, he'll be just fine taking that, he doesn't need to pay his bills or eat, either, you know, he's just selfish.

@MazDazzle

People working in the oil and gas sector. My husband goes through Heathrow every 3 weeks. All of my friends’ husbands do the same, brothers, Dads, cousins etc. The oil and gas industry is a major employer in my area and most of the men now work abroad.

I had someone tell me on here that this type of work is non-essential as we now use green and renewable sources of energy. And the witch hunt for the workers, people don't realise a lot of those workers don't have visas that allow them to remain here over a certain period of time, they have to be choppered back out to the rig in international waters. But not to worry! Green energy just magics itself, no maintenance, parts, etc required, and we have a totally educated workforce and all the parts to keep it running already. Said no one with a clue ever.

the point of the op is to question whether all of the travellers in and out of Heathrow are essential workers.

I'm sensing a lack of understanding of what is actually allowed.

You do not need to be an essential worker to go in or out of Heathrow.

Certainly as I understand it HMG rules allow any worker to travel out of England for work purposes if they cannot work from home. ..sounds like that's people like Eileen

They can legitimately arrive back into the UK after that work...it's only really then that the essential worker bit kicks in:

Normal workers will have to self-isolate.
Essential workers may not have to self isolate (there's a list)
Anybody arriving from a Red List country has to go into managed quarantine...

It's worth mentioning you may also be seeing some workers/families of workers who have been out of the country long term but repatriating at the end of contracts/who have lost jobs abroad...

So all the above can legitimately be in a queue seen on TV, and it will be several thousand a day ATM, verses a normal day at Heathrow when it could have been 50-100,000 ish..

I'd seriously suggest whilst there might be a few "on their jollies" it's very few and there's no real way of telling who is who from TV or still images of queues...

Not everything can be done online. Not all families are together. Tye following is cut and paste from a pist I wrote last month.

Some people travelling:
Offshore workers
Oil and Gas workers in "unpleasant" countries
Musicians - going wherever there is work
Actors and production crews - film and TV production has slowed, not stopped
Expat kids at boarding school - and/or their parents taking or collecting, because lots of unaccompanied minors schemes have been stopped
People working on stuff that cant be done remotely for example fixing complicated equipment
People who had been working abroad, and now have lost their job, so are coming home
People who have family abroad, and have been to see their close family members last few days and/or funeral

Oil and Gas workers in "unpleasant" countries

Glad you said that because it's a good example of people darn well not being on "jollies", in fact anything but.

I worked at/was being based at Heathrow for several decades (yes I'm old)..

You'd look at the schedules and sometimes ask yourself why an airline was operating a long haul multi-hundred seat aircraft on a frequent basis between LHR and XXX (no names to avoid offence but some were very interesting ) after all, nobody in their right mind would go on a jolly to XXX, YYY or ZZZ.....

Then you'd find out each flight was quite possibly carrying a couple of hundred folks associated with the Oil/gas Industry and if it was a coastal destination in addition maybe a few dozen plus seafarers joining vessels, plus the odd foreign office official, research scientists (geologists, etc).......

Guess what, even now they'll still be flying in/out and they'll be in these queues.

When looking at Heathrow queues people really need to stop assuming airports=holidaymaker=jollies.....that's not the reality many of the large international airports.

So how exactly can you tell if someone is a holidaymaker or not from a picture from LHR?
When I travelled to Australia for work I wore the exact same outfit as I did travelling to Orlando for a holiday, and I know I’m not the only one.

To add to it, when I moved from the U.K. alone with my son I brought less luggage than I’d normally bring on a holiday. The original flights were all cancelled so our 3 hour flight ended up taking 16 hours with 2 connections packed to the brim with people who all had the same problem.

Yes some people had been on a holiday, but it was allowed where they were coming from and where they were going but on the U.K. leg I doubt many people were.

Oil and Gas workers in "unpleasant" countries

And the vast industry that supports them.

Also people who need to, by law, return to their home country to renew their visas or take up a new visa if the terms of their stay in the UK have changed, it's often the case you must apply from your home country.

but it's not exactly essential to running the country is it

Like a PP said, let's all stop using petrol so the gas and oil workers can also stay at home. After all, it's not that essential to running the country, people can walk or cycle

One could argue there are a lot of non-essential things we have carried on doing, even during lockdowns. Exercise for example, or look at Spain who deemed it non-essential and kids couldn't go past their front doors for 7 weeks. Garden centers, pet shops and vets. Our cats, dogs and tomato plants are not essential to our livelihood, after all. Let's stop all of that too, and lock ourselves inside for the next decade.

The aim throughout the pandemic has been to reduce infections, not to put a halt to all movement and economical activity. I have a non-essential job but by going to work, I contribute to the economy. I'm paying taxes instead of receiving state benefits, and I have some disposable income I can spend on other industries, so they can also stay alive. In 5 years we'll be more concerned about the financial state of the country, rather than a few oil workers (and non-essential musicians, people going to funerals - god forbid we're allowed to go mourn a relative, humanity and empathy took off in March 2020 never to return, as we all know) going through Heathrow during a lockdown.

Kids in the Philipines are still locked up afaik -- since March 2020.

@EileenGC yes oil workers are essential, never said they weren't? Your job is essential to you obviously but not to the running of the country. Spreading germs around in an airport and then another country just so you can play a musical instrument is ridiculous. But I think you know that which is why you're so defensive.

Yes, I always wonder exactly what is so 'essential' - would have thought that visiting family abroad is NOT essential given the circumstances. A great pity we did not enforce travel restrictions/quarantine many months ago.

[quote Eyjafjallajokulldottir]@EileenGC yes oil workers are essential, never said they weren't? Your job is essential to you obviously but not to the running of the country. Spreading germs around in an airport and then another country just so you can play a musical instrument is ridiculous. But I think you know that which is why you're so defensive.[/quote]
Money and people earning it is essential to any country's economy. How condescending can you get? Funny how it was fine to 'spread germs' of all sorts around the world and no one blinked an eye until Covid came along. Get a grip!

@backinthebox

I fly for work, and pass through Heathrow regularly. It is a ghost town compared to how it would normally be, and I suspect in order to get a photo of it looking busy a journalist would have to sit there for quite some time until several flights that actually have passengers on them arrive at the same time. I would normally fly 4-6 long haul sectors a month, but in recent months have flown a maximum of 2-3 sectors, sometimes travelling in one direction as a passenger in order to bring a freight (ie no passengers) flight back. Most of the flights I do these days have only a handful of passengers on them, mostly travelling for work or compassionate reasons. However this is only second hand knowledge for me as I no longer go into the cabin to speak with passengers, so this information comes from the cabin crew who are working out there. For example, although I flew to Antigua last month (and people yell "Antigua? Surely people going to Antigua are twats going on holiday!) our small number of passengers included a couple of maritime engineers, some scientists, and a family travelling for a funeral. No holiday makers that I was aware of. Among my own family, the only people who have travelled during international lockdowns apart from myself have been travelling either for attend a parent's deathbed and a one way trip emigrating for work. Both of those family members quarantined for 2 weeks and paid the full cost of it. As someone in the travel trade, I would say you would be hard pushed to find many of those people in the photos who do not have a very good reason for travel atm.

Don't talk sense. MNers much prefer to moan about "all those people coming in during lockdown" as well as the twonks allegedly going on holiday. Don't muddy the waters with facts!

Your job is essential to you obviously but not to the running of the country. Spreading germs around in an airport and then another country just so you can play a musical instrument is ridiculous. But I think you know that which is why you're so defensive

You'd not deem my husband's work reasons essential either then - he's working on a sporting event. And I'm not defensive, I don't give a fuck. Pay my mortgage or wind your neck in.

On what planet is travelling to play in a concert seen as essential

It's work!

And while we have over 600 comments on whether "virus shedding joggers" should wear a mask outside, a bunch of elite athletes are competing in Turun in Poland. Travelling from all over Europe to run around an indoor track.

Kids in the Philipines are still locked up afaik -- since March 2020.

I saw that article too but according to my nanny ( from Philippines) generally not true- there is no school but the kids are all out and about and just run off when the cops come.

@Eyjafjallajokulldottir Your job is essential to you obviously but not to the running of the country. Spreading germs around in an airport and then another country just so you can play a musical instrument is ridiculous. 😂😂😂 Stop frothing! There aren’t actually any rules that say work has to be essential to the running of a country in order for people to do their job. As has been pointed out - essential workers are exempt from quarantine. Non-essential workers who cannot work from home are allowed to go out to work, but if their work is a non-essential profession then they have to quarantine. The government has not said that if your work is not an essential role you cannot travel at all for work.

There are a lot of jobs that require people to travel internationally for them to be able to work but that are not essential. The entire entertainments, sports and the arts are entirely inessential for the running of a country, but it would have been a bloody boring year for us if there had been no one working in those sectors creating stuff for us to watch, follow and listen to during lockdown. Just imagine, what would all the frothers do if they can’t even say ‘all you have to do is stay at home and watch Netflix’ if there was no bloody Netflix because all the actors, musicians, directors, etc couldn’t travel because they aren’t helping run a country! Specialist construction worker - are you building a hospital? Research scientist - are you researching Covid? No? Off you go then, stay at home and don’t work. I’ve seen people claiming that solicitors are not essential workers in the pandemic, glossing over the number of people who are dying and have left wills (or not!)

People have to work. Those who are doing ‘essential work’ are working bloody hard, but not hard enough to pay enough tax to fund all of those who are not saving the world’s bills. So the government have said those who cannot wfh can go to work, and that is not limited to just working in the UK. It might not sit well with your own personal view of what people should be doing, but that’s just tough, as people need money to feed themselves and put a roof over their head, and most of us had not thought to organise ourselves a back-up career in case a pandemic came along which shut the world down.