Travel chaos, U-turns and a cancelled Christmas: it's Boris Johnson's worst week | Polly Toynbee

Ministers claim they've only just heard of the new Covid strain. After days of ducking, diving and denials, that's another untruth

What bitter irony, what perfect symbolism, for Europe to slam its gates shut to us days before Britain was due anyway to self-isolate permanently with Brexit. As country after country bans British travellers for fear of the new Covid variant, the UK, high in deaths and economic damage, is world-beating only as Typhoid Mary.

Related: Europe's UK travel ban is not a punishment for Brexit | Mujtaba Rahman