Sir Keir Starmer calls for all UK arrivals to go into hotel quarantine

10 February 2021, 22:48

Sir Keir Starmer has called for stricter quarantine rules for those arriving into the UK
Sir Keir Starmer has called for stricter quarantine rules for those arriving into the UK. Picture: PA

By Kate Buck

The Labour Party is calling for all international arrivals to be put into hotel quarantine amid fears new Covid variants are spreading across the planet.

Analysis has suggested 10,000 UK arrivals each day will be avoiding going into strict quarantine, compared to Government estimations only around 1,000 will be coming through our borders from higher risk nations.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has now called for the requirements in England to match those planned for Scotland, which will require all international arrivals to self-isolate in hotels.

The analysis is based on the number of people travelling from countries where the South African or Brazilian coronavirus variants are circulating but which are not on the Government's red list.

Read more: Quarantine hotels: Tory MPs slam £10k fine and jail threat for hiding 'red list' visits

This includes locations such as France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.

Those passengers will not be required to quarantine in hotels under the new system which comes into force on Monday.

Nick Ferrari scrutinises Shapps on "oppressive" travel jail sentence

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Wednesday the number of people currently travelling to the UK from red list countries "probably comes to less than 1,000 a day".

Sir Keir also demand that the Government publishes daily data showing how many passengers are entering the UK from different countries.

Read more: Grant Shapps: 'Red list' rule breakers must face tough penalties to save lives

He said: "The Government's failure to secure our borders risks jeopardising the fight against Covid-19.

"All the effort being put into the vaccine rollout across Britain could be undermined by a vaccine-resistant strain entering the country.

"The Government is leaving gaping holes in our defences against Covid variants, with the vast majority of arrivals from Monday set to avoid hotel quarantine.

Younger people may not be as willing to have a Covid vaccine, warns expert

"The Prime Minister must listen to Labour and ensure all international arrivals are quarantined in hotels and the aviation sector is supported while that happens.

"He should also come clean on the numbers of people arriving from different countries by publishing daily arrivals data."

Anyone trying to get around coronavirus travel quarantine restrictions by concealing such visits faces a prison term of up to a decade, Matt Hancock announced on Tuesday.

The Health Secretary set out a significant strengthening of measures at the UK's borders in the Commons, during which he revealed that people who have to stay in quarantine hotels will also be charged £1,750 for their stay.

The restrictions apply to British and Irish residents arriving in England, Mr Hancock said, with the hotel quarantine programme beginning for 'red list' countries on Monday.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Thomas Frank is putting together his Tottenham side ahead of the 2025/26 season

How Tottenham could line up in 2025/26

Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney celebrate after winning the world cup

Northern Ireland stars burst into tears after historic victory at World Cup of Darts

The USS Nimitz has cancelled a planned port call and is heading west as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies

US aircraft carrier heads west as Israel and Iran exchange strikes for fourth day as fighting intensifies

Gemma Southall, 38, last seen in Norwich on Saturday.

Police launch urgent hunt for woman, 38, last seen in pink vest and flip flops missing since Saturday

.

Who is Blaise Metreweli - the real life M and first female head of MI6?

Exclusive
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds was flummoxed by questions about the Lower Thames crossing

Treasury minister unable to answer basic questions on £10bn Thames crossing in car crash LBC interview

Belinda Taylor, left, and Adam Harrison, right, died during a tandem jump on Friday.

Tributes pour in for 'selfless' mother-of-four and 'wonderful' skydiving instructor who died during tandem jump

An Air India flight takes off.

Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight forced to turn back with 'technical issue'

NATO Scramble RAF Typhoons Four Times In Seven Days To Intercept Russian Aircraft

RAF fighter jets scrambled six days in a row as fifteen Russian military aircraft intercepted

J.J. Spaun holds the U.S. Open trophy

JJ Spaun hails 'fairytale' victory as Robert MacIntyre’s US Open dream crushed

The trilateral Aukus partnership, believed to be aimed at countering China, involves building a new fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines and co-operating in other areas of defence

Starmer has 'no doubt' Trump will back Aukus submarine deal despite ‘America First’ review

Falmouth youth fights for Transgender rights as Section 35 enacted repealing a Scottish Bill that would benefit the transgender community

Nearly 10,000 gender certificates granted as Gen Z applications soar

Israeli security personnel and first responders inspect an area hit by an Iranian missile strike on central Tel Aviv.

Israel-Iran LIVE: At least five dead and 287 injured in latest strikes on Tel Aviv as fighting enters its fourth day

Seven men who groomed two vulnerable teenage girls in Rochdale were found guilty of multiple offences last week

Starmer calls in 'Britain's FBI' to investigate grooming gangs after U-turn on national inquiry

Vance Boelter, 57, is suspected of fatally shooting the Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark

Man suspected of shooting Minnesota politicians in 'targeted assassination' arrested after two-day manhunt

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Haifa, in northern Israel, on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Rami Shlush)

UK warns against all travel to Israel as missile strikes continue into third night