Devolved nations made Shapps bring quarantine forward a day

HOLIDAYMAKERS were given a day’s less notice to return from France after ministers gave in to demands from devolved governments to set a tighter deadline.

It was originally planned that tourists in France, as well as those in the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba, would have until 4am tomorrow to return to the UK without the need to quarantine for 14 days. No10 briefed reporters at 9.20pm on Thursday of the Sunday cut-off point.

However, in a “four nations” call at around 9:30pm on Thursday evening, Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Justice Secretary, pushed for the cut-off point to be brought forward, The Daily Telegraph understands.

This led to a limit of 4am today being imposed – 24 hours earlier than originally planned. The SNP politician was backed by his counterparts in Wales and Belfast, and Grant Shapps, UK Transport Secretary, “did not dig his heels in” and agreed to the change, senior sources said.

The tight deadline caused chaos for British travellers at the destinations, who yesterday faced a scramble to get home, with airlines and Eurostar ramping up prices in light of demand.

However, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, said it was “basic common sense” that restrictions should be imposed as quickly as possible.

At her daily press briefing in Edinburgh she said: “If we think a country is high risk, and that necessitates quarantine, I just don’t think there is any argument that says you should wait a couple of days before you impose it.”

Ms Sturgeon has been more explicit than UK ministers in warning against overseas travel, urging Scots to instead consider taking a “staycation”.

Asked about his discussions with UK ministers, Mr Yousaf declined to give a detailed account of the talks but added: “I make no apologies for often on these calls, pushing everybody and ensuring all the other nations try to implement these changes as quickly as we possibly can, for the sake of public health.”

Government sources suggested that there was a potential “political motive” behind Welsh and Scottish demands.

The source insisted that Mr Shapps made the decision to go with Saturday in order to “keep the four nations together” and to avoid confusion.

“Ultimately we didn’t want people coming back from France and being confused about which rules they are supposed to be following,” the source said. The Government therefore decided to show “flexibility” in order to ensure “clarity”.