SNP hotel quarantine plan mired in uncertainty just days before it is due to come into force
The SNP’s drive to impose the strictest hotel quarantine regime in Britain was in chaos on Friday night after ministers could not answer basic questions about their plan and admitted a series of loopholes will limit its impact.
With a requirement to quarantine in hotels to be imposed on all international travellers from Monday, Jeane Freeman was unable to say who would be exempt, what rules Scots arriving into English airports should follow or how the travel history of those arriving on internal flights would be checked.
The health secretary instead launched into a tirade against the UK Government, saying it was “deeply disappointing” that it had refused to adopt the SNP’s policy for the whole UK or agreed to place Scots arriving into England into quarantine hotels on her behalf.
Senior figures in the Scottish aviation sector have been left exasperated at a lack of detail over how the plan, due to come into force within 48 hours, will work in practice.
In England, only those arriving from 33 “red list” countries will have to isolate under state supervision in hotels for 10 nights, at a cost of £1,750.
However, in Scotland, all arrivals from outside the UK and Ireland will be expected to undergo the “managed” quarantine in a policy Nicola Sturgeon has compared to the "ring of steel" approach to borders adopted by New Zealand and Australia.
It remains unclear how a Scottish resident arriving into an English airport will be identified and forced into hotel quarantine, with the UK Government insisting they would simply be able to travel home and isolate there.
“Nicola’s ring of steel is going to be like Trump’s border wall - you will just be able to walk around the side of it,” one aviation industry source said.
“They’re the ones that have insisted on this plan but they haven’t thought of all these loopholes that it throws up. It’s a complete disaster.”
Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman launching lengthy attack on UK Government at Scot Gov TV media briefing over quarantine hotels and refusal of UK Gov not to extend policy to all countries
— Chris Musson (@ChrisMusson) February 12, 2021
There was further confusion after flaws were understood to have been exposed in draft regulations written by the Scottish Government.
As originally drafted, those arriving into Scotland on a connecting flight through Ireland would not have been obliged to quarantine in a hotel. It is believed the mistake was pointed out by the UK Border Force.
There was also still no system in place for transporting people from airports to the hotels.
SNP ministers have raised the prospect of imposing border checkpoints for those entering Scotland by road, but Police Scotland said it has no plans to do this and UK officials do not view the threat as credible.
Ms Sturgeon and Ms Freeman have repeatedly called for the blanket requirement to quarantine in hotels to be enforced UK-wide, claiming this is supported by scientific evidence. However, the UK Government does not view that option as practical or proportionate, particularly as all travellers have to be tested before boarding flights.
Whitehall sources also query the wisdom of forcing travellers from countries with low coronavirus rates into hotels with those from places with high rates.
“These new arrangements for travellers come into force on Monday but yet there is still a woeful lack of detail from the Scottish Government about how they will operate in practice,” a UK Government source said.
“This is creating confusion and uncertainty for people travelling to Scotland. Unless the Scottish Government can set out firm proposals quickly, it would appear their position is more about concocting a row with the UK Government then about protecting public health.”
Ms Freeman said work was ongoing to work out how to “mitigate” UK Government policies that “weaken our capacity to protect people as much as we believe we need to”.
🗓 From Monday 15 February, everyone arriving in Scotland from outside the Common Travel Area must book and pay for managed isolation in a quarantine hotel for at least 10 days.
Passengers will be tested twice for #coronavirus – once on day 2 and once on day 8 after arrival. pic.twitter.com/j3b5RMnKRv— Scottish Government (@scotgov) February 9, 2021
She added: “It’s deeply disappointing, if as a family of equals, one partner isn’t prepared to help the other partner enforce the policy that they think is the right policy for the people that they represent.
“In the meantime, we will work through what the options are to mitigate where the UK Government's stance creates a loophole in what the Scottish Government believes is exactly the right thing to do.”
Colin Smyth, Scottish Labour's transport spokesman, said: “Their latest quarantine plan still has more questions than answers just hours before it comes into effect.
“The idea of border controls at Gretna to try to find someone who may have landed at Manchester airport is pie-in-the-sky when so many people travel between South Scotland and North England every day for work."
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport, however, said they were “concerned at the lack of detail and understanding of the airport environment” in the Scottish Government plans.
He added: “This could have been avoided if we had been engaged at a much earlier stage so we could provide the insight and expertise that our business is built on.
“It is clear that there is still a lot of work for the government to carry out if it wants this policy to be in place for Monday.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said the drafting of regulations always involved a re-drafting process and that this was "completely normal."
He added: "Our regulations will make clear that anyone who has been in a red list country within the previous 10 days and who comes into Scotland from Dublin will be required to go into a quarantine hotel."
