Transport Minister sowed confusion on Thursday night by apparently giving out the wrong information

Transport Minister Grant Shapps, during a TV interview, announced that France would be removed from the UK travel corridor, which caused much confusion as he gave the wrong starting date for quarantine measures when returning to Britain from France.

Mr Shapps had erroneously said, on TV,  that people arriving in the UK from France would have to isolate for 14 days from Sunday, but the move is actually coming into force at 4am on Saturday.

In a speedily deleted tweet referencing the imposition of the measures, Shapps declared at 10.45pm on Thursday: “It’s Saturday at 4am, meaning that anyone returning on Sunday onwards will need to quarantine.”

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Some holidaymakers, having seen the Transport Minister’s interview, mistakenly booked return trips later on Saturday after seeing Shapps’s interview, meaning they would arrive after the measures came into effect.

Andrew Neil(@afneil)

I fear the transport minister didn’t know what he was talking about. https://t.co/2lfOxT0qwJ

August 13, 2020

During the TV interview, Shapps said: “Well, the French government have said that unfortunately the virus has been going the wrong way there.”

“There’s been a 66% increase in the number of positive tests in the last week alone. And so, unfortunately, France is having to be added to the quarantine list. That means if you’re coming back from France then you must self-isolate for 14 days when you come back from Sunday.”

This protocol will all also apply to people arriving from the Netherlands, Malta, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba and Monaco.

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The broadcaster Andrew Neil, whose tweet to Shapps asking about the timing of the measures prompted the now deleted tweet, was as ruthless as his usual self in his criticism. Neil wrote on Twitter: “I fear the transport minister didn’t know what he was talking about.”

As of 2019, he presented the live political programmes Politics Live and The Andrew Neil Show on BBC Two.

Neil was appointed editor of The Sunday Times by Rupert Murdoch, and served in this position from 1983 to 1994. After this he became a contributor to the Daily Mail. He was formerly chief executive and editor-in-chief of the Press Holdings group.^[2] In 1988 he became founding chairman of Sky TV, also part of Murdoch's News Corporation. Since July 2008, he is the chairman of Press Holdings Media Group, whose titles include The Spectator, and the ITP Media Group.^[3] He has worked for the BBC, fronting various programmes, for decades.

In another tweet, Neil said: “Transport minister Shapps has just deleted his tweet to me. I suspect he thought 4am Saturday was early Sunday morning. It’s not. It’s 4am Saturday.”

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Amanda Hill, speaking with the Guardian on Friday relates how her brother-in-law and family, who were staying with her in France were due to leave on Monday, but, after seeing Shapps’s TV interview, quickly paid £230 to book a Eurotunnel ticket for Saturday afternoon.

“They were of course shocked to wake up to find out the quarantine starts from 4am tomorrow morning.”

“They are of course extremely upset and angry and now have to quarantine with six-year-old twins. Why hasn’t he acknowledged his mistake and the impact it has had?”

A Department for Transport source said on Friday: “During his recorded interview straight after the decision on France was taken he made a slight slip which may have confused people about timings.

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“The last thing he would want to do is cause confusion for people in France dealing with this difficult situation.”

In an additional comment, a DfT source sought to point the finger at Sky News by claiming Shapps realised the “possible confusion” caused by his comments and requested for that part of the clip not to be broadcast.

The source said: “The comment on the timing of quarantine coming into effect was made during a pre-recorded pool interview with a Sky camera team. The secretary of state recognised the possible confusion and asked that the timing comment not be used in the broadcast clip. But this comment did appear on air temporarily.”

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