Top business executives granted amber list quarantine exemption if supporting UK jobs

29 June 2021, 11:04 | Updated: 29 June 2021, 12:40

Business directors who fly into England from an amber list country have been granted some exemptions from quarantine.

Newly-updated advice says executives can leave the required 10 day quarantine if they are bringing "significant economic benefit" to the country.

Travellers arriving from amber list destinations have to quarantine for 10 days and take a Covid test on days two and eight of their isolation.

However, new information on the Department for Transport website says executives at board level or equivalent could leave for business activity – but will have to quarantine at all other times.

They are classed as bringing economic benefit if their work has a greater than 50% chance of creating or preserving at least 500 UK jobs in larger existing businesses, or doing so within two years for a new business.

Read more: Amber list 'update': What are the quarantine rules for travellers?

Read more: UK travel list update: Which countries are now on the green list?

The Department for Transport website states: "Senior executives are only exempt if the business activity requires their physical presence and cannot be done remotely or by anyone who would not need to quarantine.

"The senior executive wishing to use the exemption must notify the UK government prior to doing so.

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"They must do this using the business, jobs and investment exemption form.

"Only individuals who have received a letter from the UK government confirming that they meet the criteria for the exemption, based on the information provided, will be able to use the exemption.

"This letter must be obtained before travelling to the UK and presented to Border Force officials upon arrival."

If an executive arrives from a red list, they must isolate in a hotel for 10 days and are not allowed to leave for business.

The news is unlikely to be welcomed by Brits hopeful of patching together a summer holiday.

Tourists were left furious after Portugal was removed from the no-quarantine green list onto the amber register.

However, the Government insists while it wants to reopen travel, it is concerned about importing new cases of coronavirus and variants that could prove less effective against existing vaccines.

But ministers have been accused by Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner of "taking the p*ss" over the rules.

She said: "It is the lowest paid working people who have got our country through this crisis, risking their lives on the frontline.

"This is an offensive slap in the face for them and shows this government's true colours.

"Yet again it is one rule for those at the top and another for everyone else. This makes a total mockery of the sacrifices of the British people during this pandemic and this double standard is an insult to frontline workers that the British people will rightly be disgusted by."