//Am I right in thinking that the frankly OTT (and you may be certain never to be carried out) 10 year jail threat only applies to “red list” destinations?//
Mr Hancock suggested it would be used against anybody who misled the authorities by anybody who provided false information on their "Passenger Locator" form.
Leaving aside the fact that, as I said in another thread, there is not a court in the land who would impose a prison sentence of such length (and in fact I doubt of any length) on a person accused of providing false information in such circumstances, Mr Hancock seems to be relying on legislation which does not cover the situation he envisages. It seems he is relying on the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. But just about everything to do with containing the spread of disease in that Act involves restrictions on people who have or are suspected of having an infectious disease. I must say I haven't read it all but I cannot find anywhere where restrictions which contain such severe penalties for transgressions apply to people who have simply arrived in the UK from a lace where the disease is suspected of being prevalent. But who would have believed, 12 months ago, that we would discussing a serious warning from a government minister, that people should face 10 years custody for improperly completing a form?
On a wider note, I notice that Mr Hancock is now suggesting that draconian restrictions will remain in force so long as the threat of "variants" persists. That might as well be forever, then, because they will always exist.