Government condemned for ‘slap in the face’ rule allowing executives to escape self-isolation if work benefits UK economy

Ministers have been accused of creating “one rule for the rich and another for the rest” after an announcement that overseas business leaders will be allowed to escape quarantine on arrival in England if their work is of significant economic benefit. Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner described the move as an “offensive slap in the face” to the lowest paid workers, who she said had got the country through the coronavirus crisis. The row erupted against a backdrop of a surge in cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19 first identified in India. On Monday, the UK reported the highest daily rise in cases since 30 January. The government is already under fire over exemptions that would allow officials from European football’s ruling body, Uefa, to attend games at Wembley without following quarantine rules. Former Conservative cabinet minister Liam Fox said the move risked making Britons second-class citizens “in our own country”. Under the new rules, some senior executives will be allowed to leave self-isolation if they are undertaking business activities “likely to be of significant economic benefit to the UK”. Only those who receive written permission from the government before they arrive in England will be allowed to use the exemption.<br/>