The UK government has rejected criticisms of the quarantine exemption given to climate minister Alok Sharma, saying that face-to-face meetings with foreign leaders are “key to success” in climate negotiations.
The Daily Mail reported that Sharma travelled tens of thousands of miles to at least 30 foreign destinations over the past seven months to prepare for the COP26 climate conference, but did not need to quarantine on his return despite visiting seven countries on the UK’s COVID-19 “red list.”