Arrivals in UK from high-risk countries to pay for hotel quarantine

Boris Johnson confirms move as he rejects calls to extend policy to cover all arrivals

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Boris Johnson has confirmed that British citizens returning from high-risk countries must quarantine in hotels at their own expense, facing down calls from cabinet colleagues and scientists to extend the policy to all arrivals.

Speaking in the Commons, Johnson also said all travellers would be interrogated as to their purpose of travel. “I want to make clear that under the stay-at-home regulations it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel,” he said.