The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Travellers coming to UK will be allowed to shop
Travellers arriving in the UK under the new quarantine rules will be allowed to leave isolation to shop for food and other essential supplies.
The new rules – expected to be set out by Home Secretary Priti Patel today – have caused unease in the Tory ranks and been condemned by businesses.
The plans, due to come into force on June 8, will see people arriving in the UK told to isolate for 14 days to prevent coronavirus cases being introduced from overseas.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “For example, I would expect people only to be able to leave the property in which they are quarantining if they need urgent medical treatment, support from social services, food or medicine which they cannot get delivered or get anybody else to bring to them, an emergency in the place they are staying – such as a fire – or to attend a funeral of a close relative.”
Travellers will also be able to board public transport from the port or airport to where they will quarantine, although they will be encouraged to use private vehicles instead.
The government is still looking at the prospect of “air bridges” between the UK and other countries which would be exempt from the quarantine rules, with Boris Johnson reported to be in favour.
Former transport minister Stephen Hammond called for the plan to quarantine all people arriving from outside the UK to be scrapped.
The Tory MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that air bridges would be a “sensible, targeted response” between low-risk countries.
He said: “This targeted approach would be a much more sensible way to behave.”
Last night George Morgan-Grenville, chief executive of tour operator Red Savannah, also urged the government to reconsider and said: “The quarantine measures are a blunt weapon which will bring only economic disaster.”