Scottish Government under fire for confusion over 'no guards on quarantine hotels' claim

The Scottish Government has come under heavy criticism for “confusing the public” after claiming that quarantine hotels would not be guarded, despite security staff being deployed at the sites.

The revelation came yesterday that G4S were managing security at the quarantine hotels after being awarded a contract by the UK’s Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to deliver a services both in Scotland and England.

Today opposition parties hit out at the SNP administration over the confusion, with Labour claiming the move gives the impression that people are “prisoners rather than passengers”.

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson MSP said: "Yet again, there is a risk of confusing the public with contradictory messaging such as this.

"The SNP's quarantine scheme is shambolic with a failure to communicate effectively with air travellers and key stakeholders."

The Scottish Government has already block-booked six hotels near airports in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, with up to 1,300 rooms available for the programme.

The row began after National Clinical Director Jason Leitch said during last Friday’s briefing that guards would not be used to enforce isolation in Scotland’s quarantine hotels.

Professor Leitch said he was not expecting for there to be “guards and fences around every hotel to keep people in”.

Security staff have been confirmed to be manning quarantine hotels in the UK.

However, after G4S staff were spotted on site, and it was revealed that G4S had been given the contract the day before Professor Leitch assured the public there would be no security.

The Scottish Government has since issued a statement saying that security guards are routinely stationed at quarantine hotels to “assist travellers with compliance”.

Scottish Labour transport spokesperson Colin Smyth said: “It’s taken the SNP a year to introduce managed quarantining but less than a week to break its word on whether travellers would be under guard at hotels.

“It gives the impressions that people are prisoners rather than passengers, especially when the National Clinical Director assured us this would not happen - it simply shows the SNP Government are making it up as they go along.

“On the one hand to make the Government look tough we have security guards escorting passengers.

"But on the other, there are still loopholes where people can circumvent managed quarantine by travelling to Scotland from non-red list countries via English or Republic of Ireland airports without having to quarantine in hotels at all.”

Scottish Greens transport spokesperson John Finnie MSP said: “A well-functioning managed quarantine system is a vital tool in tackling the virus.

“As case numbers in the country drop, from a very high mark, we must take every practical measure to reduce the importation of new cases.

“This is particularly important with a number of faster moving variants now spreading globally.

“The Scottish Government’s confusion over what level of supervision would be in place is frustrating.

He added: “It seems obvious that there is a need for a level of supervision to ensure those in quarantine remain there.

“I do have serious misgivings though that yet another important contract has been handed to G4S, a company with an extremely concerning history.”

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