Quarantine hotels ready, claims Raab
DOMINIC Raab has vowed there will be enough rooms available when the UK’s hotel quarantine plan kicks in today.
The Foreign Secretary also dismissed the idea of a blanket ban on travel into the country.
From today Britons or residents returning to England from 33 countries will be required to spend 10 days in Governmentdesignated accommodation.
The Foreign Secretary said he is confident there will be rooms available.
He told Sky News a ban on all countries is not needed. He said: “I’m not sure that’s proportionate, and having blanket bans on any, for example, air travel into the UK would be very difficult for the supply chains, things like freight.”
Mr Raab said the data is assessed very carefully and they want to make sure the measures are “as targeted as possible”.
He added: “We think we’ve got the right balance – robust measures, but targeted measures.”
But the Government was facing more confusion over “vaccine passports” after Mr Raab suggested they could be needed to get into pubs and supermarkets in the UK.
He appeared to contradict a series of other government statements as he said the idea was “under consideration”.
The comments risked provoking Tories who are already angered about the way the pandemic has hammered civil liberties.
Aides scrambled to clarify that Mr Raab had been responding to a hypothetical question and while vaccine passports are being looked at for international travel, they are “not being considered domestically”.
Ministers revealed work is under way on a system to allow foreign travel to resume, with Spain the latest country to say it is ready to welcome Brits who have had jabs.
But the Government has repeatedly said such documents will not be introduced, suggesting it would be discriminatory.
‘Blanket bans on air travel would be very difficult for supply chains like freight’