If ministers change quarantine rules while Brits are on holiday, the Government should pay
THOUSANDS more Brits face being forced to stay at home for two weeks as the Government considers adding top destinations such as France to its list of countries where holiday makers must quarantine after visiting there.
MP David Davis is leading a campaign to force the Government to offer sick pay-style compensation to those affected. Here he gives his arguments for the scheme and leading critic Dominique Samuels has her say.
Imagine being on your much-cherished annual holiday and hearing from a sun lounger the Government will quarantine you for a fortnight on your return.
It could mean two weeks without wages in the middle of a pandemic.
Others may even have their jobs put at risk.
This is what may lie in wait this week for thousands of Britons currently on France’s beaches or in its Alpine resorts.
Reports suggest that France, Britons’ second most popular holiday destination, may be the next nation to be struck from the green list of quarantine-free travel, perhaps as early as TOMORROW.
Half a million Brits are understood to be holidaying in our nearest neighbour, where cases of coronavirus are rising significantly.
Holland, Poland, Malta and Switzerland may also be added.
If these countries are taken off the quarantine-free list they will join Spain, Serbia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas.
And who knows which countries will be next? Summer still has many days to run.
It is a hugely anxiety-inducing situation for thousands of people who simply want to enjoy a much-needed holiday in the midst of an already anxious time for everyone.
So I’m proposing that if the Government changes the ground rules when you are away — and it costs you two weeks’ work — then the Government should foot the bill.
Its policy on quarantine has been an awful muddle, I’m afraid.
Thousands were caught out on July 26 when the Government announced a new quarantine on holidaymakers returning from Spain.
They had a good reason to question what the hell the Government was up to.
Why did it take Spain off the danger list, only to reimpose the quarantine a matter of weeks later — embarrassingly, when Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was there on holiday?
And why did the Government insist on quarantining people returning from holiday in the Canaries and the Balearics?
The virus on these Spanish islands was less rampant than in the UK.
For many ordinary, decent, hardworking Sun readers, the botched plans were disastrous.
Firstly, as the Government had given Spain the “all-clear” only weeks before, they had no way of knowing their holiday would be jeopardised.
They might reasonably say they had been given permission to go. So this was clearly not the holidaymakers’ fault.
JOB RISK
And let’s also not forget that many of these holidays will have been booked well before coronavirus had passed from a bat to humankind.
Secondly, if you are an office worker, like a Cabinet minister or the civil servants who advise them, you might be able to work from home.
But if you are a factory fitter, garage mechanic, shop worker or a waitress, you will not be able to do that.
If you don’t obey the rules, you face a £1,000 fine.
So this could cost two weeks’ wages — a lot of money to most working families.
Your employer might be kind and pay you anyway but there is no legal requirement to do so and many employers are on the ropes financially now anyway.
The very fear of these circumstances might lead people to cancel their holidays without recompense, again costing them money they can ill afford.
Thirdly, many companies are shrinking their workforces. As business shrinks, they are going to have to lay people off.
Under these circumstances, it is important that if you are away due to quarantine, it does not worsen your chances of keeping your job.
Remember, at the point of decision you may have been away from work for a whole month.
Most read in News
The Government should do two things. First they should change the law to ensure that nobody loses their job solely because they had to take time off for quarantine.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Secondly, they should recompense immediately and in full every British worker for the entire loss of earnings they face as a result of government quarantine regulations.
Nothing less will do.
We can't afford all this largesse
By Dominique Samuels, Co-founder of Orthodox Conservatives think tank
IT’S not prudent to go on holiday in the middle of a pandemic.
And if you do, it’s extremely sensible that you’re expected to quarantine.
I don’t, then, think the Government should have to pay for your decision to take a vacation.
It’s YOUR choice to go on holiday and your fellow taxpayers shouldn’t have to pick up the tab if you’re quarantined.
The Government has already spent heavily during the pandemic . . . too heavily for some.
Paying people to be quarantined would be a step too far. We are facing the worst recession in a 100 years.
Future generations are going to have to pay back all of this money.
I don’t think a policy decision that pays people for effectively being on holiday makes any real sense right now.
In a lot of European countries – such as France – cases have skyrocketed recently.
People are holidaying in places that currently have a higher coronavirus transmission rate than the UK, with all the dangers that entails.
Even if you booked your holiday before the coronavirus epidemic struck, it’s not the Government’s role to foot the bill for your quarantine.
People have their holidays cancelled for all manner of reasons.
Nobody would expect the Government to pay for missing work due to delayed flights.
If you can afford to go on holiday then you’ve clearly not been as affected by the pandemic as many.
Thousands of people have lost their jobs, businesses have gone under and people are experiencing real hardship.
So if you don’t want to face the consequences of a holiday quarantine . . . then don’t go on holiday.
GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL [email protected]