UK: Ten-year jail sentence for COVID-19 rule-breaking criticised, ministers face backlash

UK ministers have been accused of an “utterly ridiculous” overreach of power as they threatened to impose ten-year imprisonment on tourists for violating COVID-19 rules. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed that the 10-year sentence on travellers, announced by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, for people lying about returning from coronavirus hotspots, was the maximum penalty allowed under the 1981 Forgery and Counterfeiting Act, reported The Guardian. However, the move has been criticised by the critics and experts. 

While Johnson’s spokesperson reportedly said that tourists failing to abide by the COVID-19 restriction rules will be charged under the Forgery Act, UK government’s top former lawyer, Jonathan Jones said on Twitter that he would “eat a face mask” if the sentence was ever imposed. Even UK PM’s opposition, Labour’s attorney general called it “misleading spin” that would never be imposed on the travellers. British PM spokesperson even confirmed that UK lawmakers would not be given a say on the new regime because the relevant law already exists. He reportedly said, “We’re using existing legislation, so there’s no requirement for a vote.”

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‘Misleading Spin’

As per the media report, Labour’s attorney general, Charlie Falconer said that the new regime by the Conservative government is intended as a distraction. While talking to the Guardian, he said, “No judge is ever going to sentence anyone to anything like 10 years for lying on a passenger locator form. If someone was forging and selling fake vaccine certificates that might be a different matter but that is not what the secretary of state is referring to” before suggesting that judge would most likely sentence the violator for a month or so.

Charles Walker, the vice-chair of the 1992 Committee of Tory backbenchers said it was “utterly ridiculous” policy. He told Sky News, “Are you really seriously suggesting, secretary of state, that we’ve got enough prison capacity to start locking up 19-year-old silly kids for 10 years? What a stupid thing to say. It demeans his office and his position around the cabinet table.”

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