Alok Sharma, the government minister and President of the upcoming COP26 climate change conference, has travelled to 30 countries in the past 7 months. Six of those countries were “red list” countries. And he didn’t have to isolate when he came back.

Did he travel to all those countries? Yes, he did – despite the fact that most foreign travel was banned during this period; despite the fact that “the aviation industry produced 915m tonnes of CO2 in 2019, equivalent to 2% of all human-made CO2 emissions”; and despite the fact that the alternative to travel of virtual meetings and conferences is now common practice everywhere; and despite the fact that he’s President of COP26 and last month said that “we all need to play our part” in taking measures to stop the climate crisis, and encouraged small changes which could make a difference.

So they could, Alok, so they could.

Was he exempt from the requirement to isolate? Is that really true? Yes, it is.

The government’s official Guidance to Crown servants (and that includes Alok) sounds OK to start with:

You need to quarantine in a government approved hotel if you have been in a country on the travel ban red list in the 10 days before you arrive in the UK …

There’s no way out of that, then, is there? Yes, there is. The Guidance goes on to say that if “a relevant department of the UK government has certified that you are not required to do so” then you are not required to do so. This is because you are

a Crown servant or government contractor travelling to the UK for essential government work or returning from such work outside the UK, or

returning from conducting essential state business outside of the UK, or

returning to the UK where this is necessary to facilitate the functioning of a diplomatic mission or consular post of Her Majesty or of a military/other official posting on behalf of Her Majesty.

And they will certify you simply by sending you a letter. Still, Alok might get caught under the next rule:

Even if you do not need to quarantine in a managed quarantine hotel you may still be required to quarantine in the place where you are staying.

However,

You do not need to quarantine in the place where you are staying if a relevant department of the UK government has certified to that end that you are:

a Crown servant or government contractor travelling to the UK for essential government work, or

returning from conducting essential state business outside of the UK, or

returning to the UK where this is necessary to facilitate the functioning of a diplomatic mission or consular post of Her Majesty or of a military/other official posting on behalf of Her Majesty.

Whew! Lucky escape, Alok.

Still, like everybody else, he will still have to be tested for the virus when he gets back to the UK, won’t he? After all:

You are expected to complete tests on day 2 and day 8 where reasonably practicable [after your return] …

However,

you will not need to complete the mandatory testing requirements if a relevant department of the UK government has certified that you are:

a Crown servant or government contractor travelling to the UK for essential government work, or

returning from conducting essential state business outside of the UK

and you do not need to quarantine in a managed quarantine hotel or the place where you are staying as a result.

That must be a relief.

Finally, what about the rules on “covid testing before entering England”? Well, Alok would need to be specifically certified to escape this, but that wouldn’t be a problem. He would just need another letter:

The relevant department of the UK government will issue you with a letter certifying that you fall within one of the categories above and that you are not required to comply with the requirement.

So that’s all done and dusted, then. No quarantine, no testing, go where you like, as often as you like, no problem. Still, our hero did wear a mask on his journeyings apparently, so that’s something.

It was just a mask though. To hide the fact that there’s one law for us, and a whole raft of exemptions for them.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/06/cop26-president-alok-sharma-flew-to-30-countries-in-7-months?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Government Guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-travellers-exempt-from-uk-border-rules/coronavirus-covid-19-travellers-exempt-from-uk-border-rules#crown-servants-or-government-contractors