Boris Johnson’s quarantine policy is set to be decided in court with more than 500 travel and hospitality businesses expected on Monday to join a legal bid by airlines to reverse the restrictions. A new group called Quash Quarantine, which includes major names such as hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, will announce how it plans to stop the policy in its tracks, with options including backing a judicial review or seeking its own injunction. They claim the quarantine rule — which comes into force on Monday — is driven by politics rather than science, with one senior figure accusing the Prime Minister’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings of pursuing it as a “tactic” in Brexit negotiations. Almost all arrivals into the UK must now self-isolate for 14 days, which the travel industry says will have a “catastrophic” impact on the sector and on the wider UK economy. British Airways’ parent company IAG, Ryanair and Easyjet have already sent a “pre-action” letter to the Government, setting out why they believe the coronavirus quarantine policy is legally “wholly unjustified,” “disproportionate,” and “unfair.” The move by the 500-plus travel and hospitality firms now makes legal action a near certainty, and means the Prime Minister faces an unprecedented wall of opposition to quarantine from industry.
