David Davis questions plans to quarantine new arrivals in the UK

A former minister and Yorkshire MP has described the timing of plans to introduce a two-week quarantine period for people arriving in the United Kingdom as “odd”.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to set out the proposals today which would see new arrivals in the UK isolated for a period of 14-days.

It has also been suggested that as part of the move, police will be given powers to impose fines of £1,000 if new arrivals fail to isolate for a fortnight.

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However, Conservative former Europe minister and Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis questioned how carefully the measure had been thought through.

Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis. Photo: PAHaltemprice and Howden MP David Davis. Photo: PA
Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis. Photo: PA

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“Everything we do in this has got a balance really,” Mr Davis told the BBC’s World at One programme.

“A balance principally in this case between medical issues, health issues, the economy and social issues.

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“And the thing that worries me is how carefully this has been thought through. Remember at the beginning this was supposed to exempt France, one of the other highest infection countries in Europe.

“The timing is odd. I mean, other countries like Greece introduced pretty much quarantine arrangements very, very early on and as a result, Greece is 30 times better off in deaths per million than we are.

“And we’re now in a position where we’re going to say, let’s say Greeks, coming here, ‘well you’re going to have to have 14 days in quarantine’, whereas if I come down from Doncaster, I go through King’s Cross without a stop.

“So it’s very, very difficult to see how this is actually quite as effective or cost-effective or balanced as well with the impact it’s going to have as a lot of other measures.”

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Mr Davis added: “Ask yourself – where is the science in saying to somebody from Athens which has got a very low rate or any part of Greece that’s got a low rate, versus someone from Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or wherever.

“I mean the rates here are much higher than they are in Greece, so I don’t see how it adds up.”

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