For Secretaries of State, there’s a general rule that anything they do can be done by a junior minister: look at who signs most statutory instruments made “by the Secretary of State”, and at junior ministers taking eg planning decisions when the incumbent SoS has a conflict.
And of course Carltona: the general principle that civil servants can take decisions in the name of the SoS.
Early day motion on 8 March on the position of UK musicians (those unlucky enough not to have 🇮🇪 passports) in the EU after Brexit. edm.parliament.uk/early-day-moti…
This letter from the EFTA Surveillance Authority about a 🇳🇴 quarantine proposal throws up some of the questions to which a lawful quarantine policy must have answers that stack up.
And NB that though the UK is not now of course bound by EU FOM, questions could arise under the Withdrawal Agreement in relation to the rights of pre-2021 EU residents with WA rights returning to the UK, as well as under Art 5 (and other articles) of the ECHR.
Also NB that any UK citizen now returning from holiday must have left before 5/1/21 (when this proposal was not being mooted).
A quick thread about the legal issues surrounding the imposition of a “quarantine at a hotel” requirement for international travellers. These are initial thoughts: would welcome thoughts and contributions! NB I’m thinking about 🏴 only but this probably applies equally to 🏴.
The basic power is in section 45B of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984.
Subsection (2)(b) refers to the “detention, isolation, or quarantine of persons”.
As Brexit has taught us, the UK is not an island. It has a land border: and one that is impossible to close. If you don’t have coherent solutions to that issue, your policy isn’t a policy: it’s a letter to Father Christmas.
The only solutions which I can see are (1) treat NI as abroad for all purposes, including quarantine (and you need to be up front about the political and economic cost of that); or