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A minister blamed the quarantine of a hotel that will not go into effect for another 10 days in England on needing more “time to prepare” after the Labor Party called the delay “beyond comprehension”.
James Cleverly told Sky News that “the hindsight is a wonderful thing,” as he faced questions about why the policy was announced on January 27, but it will not apply to travelers until February 15.
A date for the opening of government-provided accommodation for people coming to the country from 32 “red list” countries was announced overnight.
Several cabinet ministers had struggled to set a firm date for the change, but when details finally emerged, Labor said the measures “will not go far enough to be effective in preventing new variants.”
At least 11 cases of the South African variant that scientists say vaccines are fewer but still effective have been discovered in England with no links to travel, with more “worrisome mutations” found in Bristol and Liverpool.
Cleverly, a minister at the Foreign Ministry, said there is already an “existing set of measures” at the border to try to stop the import of new variants, such as the passenger location form and mandatory isolation on arrival for 10 days.
“It’s about improving that quarantine requirement,” he said, adding that there is only “a very limited set of reasons why people should travel.”
He added that the government is talking to other countries, including Australia and New Zealand, to learn from their experience, but that “does not mean that we will replicate what they do in each case.”
Cleverly did not deny that the government will pay the bill for everyone’s hotel quarantine stay, which The Telegraph estimates will cost £ 55 million.
And he dismissed the point made by Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer in PMQ that the policy should apply to all travelers, not just nationals and residents arriving in England, because in the first wave 0.1% of cases They came from China, while 62% came from France. and Spain.
“Comparing what we are doing now with what happened at the beginning is not that relevant,” Cleverly said.
“We know much more now about where in the world the virus is prevalent.”
