A quarantine dodge by Boris Johnson would unleash a massive ‘do as I say, not as I do’ row

Published

4 years ago

July 17, 2021

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The timing could hardly be worse. A little more than 24 hours before what he used to call Freedom Day, Boris Johnson is under pressure to self-isolate.

The reason: a face-to-face meeting the prime minister held with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has now tested positive for COVID-19, in 10 Downing Street on Friday morning.

There will be some sympathy for Mr Javid. After all, he has had two jabs, both Oxford AstraZeneca, on 17 March and 16 May, and thankfully he only has “very mild” symptoms so far.

As for the prime minister, he was at Chequers when Mr Javid made his announcement at lunchtime on Saturday revealing that he “felt a bit groggy” on Friday evening and so had a lateral flow test.

While the PM will no doubt be angry and frustrated at being “pinged”, there are worse places to self-isolate than the 16th-century grace-and-favour mansion in the beautiful rolling countryside of the Chiltern Hills.

The PM, it has to be said, has a reputation as someone who thinks the rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to him. But will he wriggle out of the isolation rules this time?

No doubt he would prefer to follow the example of Michael Gove, who sidestepped quarantine when he was “pinged” after attending the Chelsea-Manchester City Champions League final in Porto.

Mr Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, was able to take part in a study, led by Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace, that examines whether daily testing can be used as an alternative to self-isolation.

People who have a lateral flow test each morning are allowed to attend their workplace as normal and do exercise, but are not allowed to socialise with others.

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But if the PM dodges self-isolation, at a time when 520,000 are isolating and there is growing public anger and resentment over the “pingdemic”, there will have been a furious outcry.

“If Boris doesn’t isolate and uses this ‘pilot scheme’, I will be encouraging my constituents to do the same,” one unnamed Tory MP was quoted as saying.

“There cannot be one rule for us and one for everyone else.”

Quite so. A quarantine dodge by the PM would unleash a massive “do as I say, not as I do” row. Remember the furore over Dominic Cummings lockdown-busting eyesight test last year? This would be 10 times worse.

Members of the public are already reported to be switching off their COVID-19 app “in droves”. A prime ministerial body swerve of isolation rules would potentially leave the policy in tatters.

The pingdemic is already largely discredited because of the way it is leaving businesses, public transport and the NHS desperately short of staff and prompting warnings of food shortages.

Where there may be less sympathy for Mr Javid, however, is over his decision to scrap isolation for the double jabbed, but not for another month, on 16 August.

Now Mr Javid has tested positive and the PM has been “pinged”, even if they brought forward the 16 August change, they would be accused of acting out of self-interest.

So the PM should grin and bear it, take one for the team and enjoy the Chilterns countryside. Freedom Day? Not for him surely!

Politics

Trump’s tariffs may lead to savings for Americans through tax cuts: Research

Published

3 hours ago

February 22, 2025

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Trump’s tariffs may lead to savings for Americans through tax cuts: Research

Prior to the 16th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, the United States did not have a permanent income tax levied on citizens.

Politics

Jess Phillips says there’s ‘no place’ where violence against women ‘doesn’t happen’ – as spiking to become new offence

Published

18 hours ago

February 22, 2025

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Jess Phillips says there's 'no place' where violence against women 'doesn't happen' - as spiking to become new offence

Jess Phillips has said “there is no place” where violence against women and girls “doesn’t happen” – as a new law is set to make spiking a criminal offence.

Earlier on Friday, the government said spiking will now be its own offence with a possible 10-year prison sentence as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, which will be introduced in parliament next week.

It also announced a nationwide training programme to help workers spot and prevent attacks.

Speaking to Sky News correspondent Ashna Hurynag, the safeguarding minister said that while spiking is already illegal under existing laws, the new classification will simplify reporting the act for victims.

“Spiking is illegal – that isn’t in question, but what victims and campaigners who have tried to use the legislation as it currently is have told us is that it’s unclear,” Ms Phillips said.

UK ‘was never safe’ for women

When asked if the UK is becoming a less safe place for women, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said: “I don’t think it’s becoming less safe, if I’m being honest. I think it was never safe.”

Speaking about a rise in coverage, Ms Phillips said: “We have a real opportunity to use that, the sense of feeling [built by campaigners] in the country, to really push forward political change in this space.”

“The reality is that it doesn’t matter whether it’s the House of Commons or any pub in your local high street – there is no place where violence against women and girls doesn’t happen, I’m afraid,” she added.

Spiking is when someone is given drugs or alcohol without them knowing or consenting, either by someone putting something in their drink or using a needle.

Police in England and Wales received 6,732 reports of spiking in the year up to April 2023 – with 957 of those relating to needle spiking.

London’s Metropolitan Police added that reports of spiking had increased by 13% in 2023, with 1,383 allegations.

As part of the nationwide training programme, a £250,000 government-funded scheme was started last week to teach staff how to spot warning signs of spiking crimes, prevent incidents and gather evidence.

It aims to train 10,000 staff at pubs, clubs and bars for free by April this year.

Alex Davies-Jones, minister for victims and violence against women and girls, said in a statement that “no one should feel afraid to go out at night” or “have to take extreme precautions to keep themselves safe when they do”.

“To perpetrators, my message is clear: spiking is vile and illegal and we will stop you,” he said. “To victims or those at risk, we want you to know: the law is on your side. Come forward and help us catch these criminals.”

Colin Mackie, founder of Spike Aware UK, also said the charity is “delighted with the steps being taken by the government to combat spiking”.

He added: “Spiking can happen anywhere, but these new initiatives are the first steps to making it socially unacceptable and we urge anyone that suspects or sees it happening, not to remain silent.”