Furious Nick Ferrari challenges minister over 'wholly unfair' business travel rules
30 June 2021, 08:55
Nick Ferrari skewers a government minister over funerals
This is the moment Nick Ferrari puts a government minister on the spot over funerals.
"Could you explain to my listeners why a businessman or woman can fly into the UK and ignore the quarantine rules but some of my listeners cannot attend a funeral for a loved one?"
Nick Ferrari challenged government minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, asking her to explain the latest policy which sees some business leaders exempt from Covid quarantine rules.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said senior overseas business people would no longer need to isolate when arriving in England if their trip is likely to be of "significant economic benefit to the UK".
But, Nick was having none of it and launched a blistering series of questions to the minister who claimed it was "not a matter of ignoring the rules."
Anne-Marie Trevelyan said anyone wishing to claim the exemption would have to "demonstrate" they are specifically exempt.
But, Nick pressed on with the questioning asking for an explanation for listeners who might have missed a loved one's funeral.
"It's wholly unfair isn't it minister?"
But the reply from the minister was cut short when Nick pointed out that the real challenge facing the government was "credibility."
"You have a Health Secretary who should have been fired on the spot, and he wasn't, you have a Prime Minister who tried to pretend he fired the man when he didn't. Effectively it is impossible to get sacked from your government."
"And now grieving relatives and parents who are forced to take time off work to look after children home from school because they're self-isolating watch as a businessman or woman flys in and avoids some of the quarantine regulations."
As the minister tried to defend the policy Nick asked the question many LBC listeners wanted an answer to.
"Under a Conservative government, a businessman is more important than attending your gran's funeral, how do you defend that?"
