Mandarin’s ‘shoe box’ quarantine hotel jibe

THE UK’s top civil servant joked about travellers being locked up in ‘shoe box’ quarantine hotels, the leaked texts reveal.

Simon Case said it was ‘hilarious’ that people had to isolate in a government-approved hotel for ten days on their return to the country. On February 15, 2021, the Cabinet Secretary messaged Matt Hancock: ‘I just want to see some of the faces of people coming out of first class and into a Premier Inn shoe box.’

Mr Case had earlier expressed concern about the lack of border checks, describing the situation at the time as ‘mad’.

On March 2, then PM Boris Johnson said it was ‘superb’ that a couple were fined £10,000 for failing to quarantine after returning from Dubai.