PM Morrison plans to attend UK G7 in person

Scott Morrison intends to travel to the COVID-ravaged UK in June, after receiving an invite to the G7 by Boris Johnson.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison plans to attend the G7 summit in the UK in person, despite a COVID-19 crisis gripping the country.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has extended an invitation to world leaders for the event, to be held between June 11 and 13 in Cornwall on the UK south coast.

The summit will centre on the global COVID-19 recovery, climate change and debt.

Mr Morrison aims to attend the summit in person, but will make a final decision based on health advice, as a virulent strain of COVID-19 wreaks havoc in the UK.

Scott Morrison plans to attend June’s G7 summit in person after receiving an invite from Boris Johnson. Picture: Adam Taylor/PMO

The trip could also see Mr Morrison attend two parliamentary sitting weeks via videolink, with arrivals required to undergo 14 days in quarantine.

Mr Morrison has stated his intention to receive a coronavirus vaccine.

But as it remains unclear whether the jab will stop COVID-19 from spreading, there is no guarantee the 14-day quarantine requirement will be lifted by June.

Mr Morrison became the first prime minister to appear in Question Time virtually after returning from Japan in November.
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The Carbis Bay Hotel on Britain south coast will play host to the June G7 summit. Picture: Hugh Hastings/Getty Images

A highly infectious strain of COVID-19 has ripped through the UK, taking the country’s death toll above 88,000. Picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP

Australia was one of three countries outside the regular G7 bloc invited to attend the event, alongside India and South Korea.

The G7 will be Joe Biden’s first international summit as president, and the first in-person meeting of world leaders in over two years.

In June, US President Donald Trump cancelled the G7 over the COVID-19 pandemic, which also forced Saudi Arabia to move November’s G20 summit online.

The decision to host the event in Cornwall comes after 1295 deaths on Saturday took the UK’s toll above 88,000, according the John Hopkins University.

Britain has struggled to contain a highly infectious COVID-19 strain, which forced much of the country into lockdown over the Christmas period.