THE SNP has renewed calls on the UK Government to "follow the lead" of the Scottish Government's hotel quarantine rules after a UK-wide poll found the majority of Brits support it.
The YouGov poll shows a staggering 72% of respondents from across the UK said they would prefer that all people arriving in the UK should have to quarantine in a hotel while 74% of Scots backed the rules.
Just 18% backed the UK's "red list" rules where only people from "countries with a high level of corona cases" should have to do the 10-day hotel quarantine. The figure dropped to 15% in Scotland.
72% of Brits prefer the Scottish quarantine rules for travellers, whereby all arriving to the UK have to quarantine in a hotel.
— YouGov (@YouGov) February 17, 2021
Only 18% prefer the English approach of hotel quarantining just those coming from countries with a high level of virus caseshttps://t.co/Z51HuGhnr8 pic.twitter.com/ontGNtrjYU
Commenting, the SNP's deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald MP said: “It’s clear that the public back these limitations on international travel and managed quarantine rules, which are extremely difficult but give us the best chance of bringing us closer to normality here in Scotland.
“However, in order for these measures to be as effective as possible, the SNP will continue to press the UK Government to follow the lead of the Scottish Government and the scientific and public health advice.
"Sage has already outlined that 'geographically targeted travel bans' were not enough to stop new coronavirus strains from arriving in the country, and the only way to 'get close' to stopping them was to close the borders completely or introduce mandatory hotel quarantine measures for everyone entering the UK.
"Even at this late stage, the UK Government must rethink its approach and strengthen measures for those arriving into the country. At the very least it must work with the Scottish Government to ensure that the rules in place in each UK nation are respected and implemented."
READ MORE: Border staff in England 'given just a few hours notice of new quarantine guidelines'
In Scotland, everyone flying directly into a Scottish airport on international flights has to self-isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel room, under new regulations which came into effect on Monday.
Unless exempt, a passenger will have to pay £1750 to quarantine in a room at one of six designated hotels in a bid to avoid importation of the virus.
In England, the UK Government will only require hotel quarantine for visitors from a “red list” of 33 countries designated as high risk, including the whole of South America, southern Africa, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel