A crowd-funding appeal has been launched by an unnamed “solicitor and businessman” to finance a judicial review over the government’s quarantine policy.
The individual, who said he had chosen to remain anonymous “in order to protect the identity of my children”, said he had launched the appeal having been forced to self-isolate on return from a family holiday to Croatia.
The “End the Quarantine” appeal had raised £4,585 of an initial target of £10,000 by 8am on Monday.
The case outlined on the Crowd Justice website says: “Like many other holidaymakers, businesspeople and other travellers, our lives have been significantly affected by this policy.
“Additionally, many people have been put off travelling and this is destroying the travel industry both here and abroad. Accordingly, we have decided to challenge these regulations.”
It added: “People will be stunned to learn that the government has introduced these draconian measures without any scientific studies to back them up. In other words these measures are entirely arbitrary and irrational. As such it is my contention that these laws were passed illegally.
“The government has done so on the pretext that it is for our protection. If that is so, one has to query why they have not provided any scientific evidence. On the contrary, the deputy chief medical officer and SAGE have advised against it.
“I travel abroad with my family around six times per year which, if these regulations are allowed to continue, would potentially mean having to be under conditions of house arrest for almost a quarter of our lives each year.”
On Friday, prime minister Boris Johnson insisted current quarantine measures were a vital part of the UK’s “toolkit” for fighting Covid-19. However, the measures have faced growing opposition from industry and MPs, with calls for a testing regime to replace them.
When the measures were introduced in June, rival airlines British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair launched a legal challenge before putting it on hold.
Travel Counsellors founder David Speakman supported the crowd-funding appeal. He wrote on Twitter: “The travel industry is fighting for survival and needs to challenge the legality of quarantine.”