Caller lambasts Government for 'wasted year' in response to quarantine hotels
9 February 2021, 15:40
A frustrated caller has reacted to Matt Hancock's latest quarantine hotel plan update by saying the Government has "wasted a year".
The Health Secretary this afternoon updated MPs in the Commons on the Government's quarantine plan for the hotels.
During the update, he announced that anyone trying to get around the UK's coronavirus travel quarantine by hiding details of a visit to a 'red list' country will face a jail term of up to 10 years.
Responding to Mr Hancock's update, Jules in Chelsea told LBC's Tom Swarbrick: "I feel like we have all just given the Government a wasted year.
Read more: UK arrivals face up to 10 years jail for trying to hide visits to 'red list' countries
Sentences of up to 10 years for those who lie on quarantine forms
"We were honestly sitting here in our homes 12 months ago saying that they should do this and we have just wasted an entire year.
"If they had of done this 12 months ago, we would now all be at weddings, and be at parties, and be skiing, and be having a normal life."
Jules added: "I'm Australian. I've missed three weddings. But everybody else in Australia is going to the weddings [and] they're going to the beach because everybody bit the bullet at the beginning and did what they had to do."
James O'Brien caller blasts PM's 'unforgivable' decisions during Covid
She then accused the UK Government of having "never made a strong decision" during the Covid crisis and keeping the population "dangling for 12 months".
Announcing a significant strengthening of measures at the UK's borders, the Health Secretary also said people face a £1,000 fine for failing to take a first mandatory test, rising to £2,000 for not taking a second required test during the quarantine.
People who fail to quarantine in a designated hotel face a fine of £5,000, rising to £10,000.
