Business leaders and MPs tonight piled pressure on Boris Johnson to end the ‘pingdemic’ farce bringing Britain to its knees.
They spoke out as the Prime Minister was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn and self-isolate following contact with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has tested positive for Covid.
It comes as from today, key NHS workers will be exempted from the quarantine rule to help avoid hospitals cancelling operations because of staff shortages.Â
Experts estimate around 1.8million people are still self-isolating after being ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid app or contacted by Test and Trace.
Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak had announced earlier today they would take part in a pilot scheme to avoid quarantine. This sparked furious accusations of ‘one rule for them and another rule for everybody else’.
Amid widespread outrage from politicians, business leaders and the public they caved in within hours and revealed they would join thousands of people who are having to self-isolate at home – in the PM’s case Chequers until July 26, his country estate in Buckinghamshire.
They had faced accusations they were accessing a ‘VIP lane’ that was not available to workers who are having to isolate, bringing some businesses and public transport to the brink of collapse.
The backlash saw Downing Street carry out a screeching U-turn inside only three hours. The row cast a shadow over tomorrow’s ‘Freedom Day’ relaxation, while in other developments:
