Inside Politics: No 10 set to announce quarantine hotel plans

Boris Johnson is expected to sign off on new travel restrictions – but ministers have yet to agree on whether quarantine curbs will apply to all arrivals, writes Adam Forrest

Boris Johnson with Oxford/Astra Zeneca Covid vaccine at Barnet FC (PA)

Let’s hope our European friends managed to hunt down some haggis for Burns Night. There’s been a shortage across the continent. The reason? Brexit, of course. Boris Johnson is heading for Scotland this week, keen to show Nicola Sturgeon she was quite wrong to quote Robert Burns and call him a “cowerin’ timorous beastie”. Johnson is also keen to show he’s not too timorous to take further Covid action – with his government set to approve a plan for quarantine in hotels today.

Inside the bubble

Chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson will decide on new quarantine travel curbs after a meeting of the Covid-O committee. Rishi Sunak will take Treasury questions in the Commons, followed by urgent questions from Labour on border controls and schools. Meanwhile, foreign secretary Dominic Raab appears before the international development committee for the first time since he took over the department.

Daily briefing

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS? The government is expected to announce later today that travellers coming from high-risk countries will have to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. But there is final no decision yet on whether the plan will apply to arrivals from other parts of the world, with transport secretary Grant Shapps said to be fighting to limit the move. Tourism and airline chiefs have called the plan was “catastrophic”, and are pushing for it to end no later than Easter so we can book our summer holidays abroad. But experts have warned it’s looking very unlikely that Britons will be getting a foreign holiday in 2021. Boris Johnson said he is “looking at the potential of relaxing some measures” before mid-February. Stung by Tory anger over schools, the PM is thought to be very keen to get pupils back before Easter. Matt Hancock said ministers are already holding discussions about what kind of tier system will replace the lockdown – promising the “end is in sight”.

THIS CHARMLESS MAN: Boris Johnson will launch a charm offensive Scotland later this week – though Scots appear utterly immune to whatever charm he possesses. The Sun reports that it’s part of an “all-out bid to save the Union”, with the PM ready to “hail the benefits of being in the UK”. A sign of desperation? It emerged Gordon Brown – after a day of warning about the danger of a “failed state” – has held talks with Michael Gove and other ministers on combatting the SNP. Another sign of desperation? Meanwhile, the EU has again attacked the UK’s decision not to give the EU’s ambassador in London full diplomatic status. Josep Borrell, the bloc’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs said he “does not accept” the state of affairs – and warned that there would be “no good prospects” if Downing Street did not back down. Peers also branded the symbolic move “vindictive”. Tory Baroness Hooper called the decision “gratuitously offensive” to the EU.

CARDS ON THE TABLE TIME: Those Brexit benefits keep on tumbling in. Mastercard has said it will raise fees fivefold on European merchants when British cardholders buy stuff online – including flights and holidays – from the EU. Which has led to fears that companies will now pass on those extra costs to British consumers. Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake said the move “smacks of opportunism”. It comes as UK ports warn that the infrastructure development needed for all the new post-Brexit border bureaucracy is falling behind because of a lack of government funding. Portsmouth International Port has said the importation of livestock for breeding could end soon unless there’s more money. Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, told the FT there was “surprise” ministers were unwilling to release further funding. Expect Michael Gove – extremely quiet of late – to be grilled on it, whenever he re-emerges.

JABBA-DABBA-BREW-HAHA: Yet more Europe-related disputes. The EU has threatened to tighten rules on exports of the coronavirus vaccines produced in the bloc, following a row with the UK-based firm AstraZeneca over a slowdown in vaccine supplies to the 27 member states. EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said AstraZeneca’s reasons for the delaying supply by 60 per cent – problems with its factory in Belgium – were “unacceptable”. There are now real fears the row could disrupt supplies of the Pfizer vaccine to the UK (Pfizer also has a big plant in Belgium). Tory MP David Jones, a leading light in the ERG, said it was “childish and spiteful” to threaten exports. There was a less significant fall-out on Monday, when work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey cut short her GMB interview after clashing with Piers Morgan on Covid death rates. “I’m sorry Piers … I’m going to go,” she said before ending her Zoom call with the stunned host.

ON YOUR OWN AGAIN: Labour leader Keir Starmer is having to self-isolate once more – his third time! – after being notified that he’d been contact with someone who has tested positive. It comes as the influential Tory MP Jeremy Hunt – chair of the health committee – recommended the use of GPS tracking through mobile phones to monitor people who are self-isolating after they test positive for Covid. Hunt warned that poor compliance with self-isolation is “the biggest flaw in our current strategy”. Mobile phones are at the centre of the Alex Salmond inquiry controversy in Scotland, where the interim Scottish Labour leader said Nicola Sturgeon’s husband should be investigated for possible perjury. Peter Murrell, also the SNP’s chief executive, said there were no other text and WhatsApp messages between himself and party officials about Salmond, other than those already in the public domain. However, Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said evidence suggested Murrell “had not been truthful”.

TRIAL OF THE CENTURY: Let the drama commence. The Democrats’ House impeachment managers have delivered their ratified article against Donald Trump to the Senate, automatically triggering a process that will culminate with a trial for the ex-president on 8 February. Senate Republicans are still circumspect about how they are approaching the trial, but many appear increasingly opposed to it. “I think the trial is stupid. I think it’s counterproductive … it’s like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire,” said Senator Marco Rubio. Meanwhile, the voting machine firm Dominion has filed a defamation lawsuit seeking $1.3bn (!) from Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The company accused him of repeatedly lying about the machines in an effort to promote “big lie” that the presidential election was stolen.

On the record

“The UK is stronger together in the fight against this pandemic … If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we all rely on each other.”

Matt Hancock makes a pandemic-inspired plea for the union.

From the Twitterati

“We’re an international laughing stock and it is entirely self-inflicted.”

James O’Brien on UK firms are being told to set up in the EU to avoid disruption…

“The British side bodged the preparations, fully expected the EU to do the same, and are now furious because they didn’t.”

…and author Edwin Hayward says the plan for the post-Brexit period has gone awry.

Essential reading

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: The virus of nationalism is getting more contagious

Jenny Eclair, The Independent: Why is Britain suffering more than other countries during the pandemic?

Martin Fletcher, New Statesman: Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal becoming nightmarish for businesses

Amy Harder, Axios: Biden ushers in historic turn on climate change

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