PM heads to Egypt holiday resort hit by UK flight ban
Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to the Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm el Sheikh this weekend to attend a summit with European and Arab leaders.
Ironically, the UK government has banned British holidaymakers from flying to Sharm since October 2015, when a Russian charter flight was blown up shortly after taking off from the Egyptian airport.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to advise against air travel to and from the resort, although it has placed no restrictions on visiting Sharm itself.
The four issues on the agenda for the EU-Arab League summit are security, migration, trade and investment.
May is also expected to hold Brexit talks in Sharm with other EU leaders ahead of more votes on the UK’s withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons next week.
According to Sky News, she plans to use the occasion to press other European leaders for an alternative to the Northern Ireland backstop, which prevented her from getting the initial Brexit withdrawal agreement through Parliament.
Announcing the Prime Minister’s trip to Sharm-el-Sheikh, a senior government official said: "This is not a meeting about Brexit. The prime minister is not seeking to turn it into one."
But the official added: "At summits the prime minister always holds a series of bilateral meetings and conversations and she will continue to engage with fellow leaders in relation to Brexit.
"This is not a European Council. It’s not a summit at which European Council decisions are going to be made."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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