I sympathise, but ruling shouldn’t be a surprise says under-fire Shapps
GRANT Shapps said no one should be “entirely surprised” by the snap move to quarantine holidaymakers returning from France.
The Transport Secretary came under fire yesterday after France and other countries were removed from the safe travel list.
He was also left red-faced after mistakenly suggesting restrictions would not come into force until tomorrow, rather than at 4am today.
As Britons scrambled to return from France, Mr Shapps claimed “a lot of people would have been aware” of the likelihood of changes to the so-called “air bridge” rules.
He said: “No one will be entirely surprised by it but I do sympathise with people. I’ve been there myself [his holiday to Spain] and ended up having to quarantine as a result.”
On Thursday Mr Shapps said France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, the Turks & Caicos islands and the Caribbean island of Aruba were being removed from the official list of countries Britons can visit without quarantine on their return.
Hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers now face a 14-day isolation after returning to the UK.
In a TV statement announcing the move Mr Shapps mistakenly said the order would apply “from Sunday”.
A Department for Transport source said: “He made a slight slip which may have confused people about timings. The last thing he would want to do is cause confusion for people in France dealing with this difficult situation.”
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is understood to have pressed for the quarantine to come into force today rather than Sunday.
Mr Shapps conceded yesterday that the Government’s decision was not “perfect” but insisted ministers had to apply a cut-off time.