Originally Posted by
kingstontoon
So despite a minister stating that those arriving from exempt countries prior to the 10th would end quarantine on that date, and this being widely reported in the media, we now find ourselves in the frustrating position of the statutory instrument specifically ruling this out! Annoyed is not the word...
So it's time to think of options. Does leaving the UK to another exempt country definitely 100% reset the clock, provided we return on Friday or later? I filled in the locater form online on the basis I wouldn't be travelling anywhere else within the next two weeks. Will going away and filling in a new form for a Friday or later return cause any issues given what I declared on yesterday's form? And is it 100% allowed for me to leave the house and travel to an airport for the purpose of making this trip, even say a week after starting quarantine, as this clearly wouldn't be a transit?
I am not a lawyer, but my view is that self isolation will end for all travelling from exempt countries on 10 July, including those who arrived before. I'd be interested in the seeing the arguments of anyone who disagrees with my analysis. This is based on the new SI being an amendment to the old SI. The old SI says that if you came from say Holland on 1 July, you would need to self isolate for 14 days, thereby ending 14 July unless another exemption applies. The new SI, as amended, says that you need to self isolate if you come from a non-exempt country, e.g. Sweden. If you come from an exempt country there is no need to self isolate. Self isolation is in force to 9 July because the new SI as amended kicks in only on 10 July. If the intent was for those arriving from Holland serve their time in full, surely the amendment would say that in the part 4 section? After all, there are other retrospective changes which are added there (e.g. allowing visits to a chiropodist). As I say, I'd be interested in other intepretations.
But to continue your other questions, as noted above, your self isolation does end when you leave England, so long as you do it "directly". Note I used the word "England", not "overseas". It is the procedure to fill in a brand new form if anything material changes, such as leaving the UK (note I used the word UK here). Transit means transit outwith the UK, not inside, indeed CTA travel isn't transit either.
Given everything else we know, it's simply unrealistic that anyone returning from Holland on 1 July would potentially be in trouble for being out and about on 12 July. It's just not going to happen. But if you wanted to act with a surfeit of caution, a day return to NL or Scotland on 10 July removes all posibility of that, so long as you had not been to a non-exempt country since 27 June 2020.