Ministers have been accused of an “utterly ridiculous” overreach of power for threatening to impose 10-year jail sentences on travellers dodging quarantine rules.
Jonathan Jones, the government’s former top lawyer who resigned earlier this year, tweeted that he would “eat a face mask” if the sentence was ever imposed, while Labour’s attorney-general called it “misleading spin” that would never be enforced.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the 10-year sentence, announced by the health secretary, Matt Hancock, for people lying about returning from travels to coronavirus hotspots, was the maximum penalty allowed under the 1981 Forgery and Counterfeiting Act.
“If people fail to abide by the rules and inaccurately or purposely didn’t fill in the relevant documentation properly, they will be charged under the Forgery Act, which includes forging, or lying on, forms,” he said.
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