Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

‘All within rules’: UK govt defends Foreign Sec Raab for meeting Princess Anne maskless & not quarantining after trip to France

‘All within rules’: UK govt defends Foreign Sec Raab for meeting Princess Anne maskless & not quarantining after trip to France

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has come under fire for skipping self-isolation after returning from Paris and hanging out with Princess Anne instead. The government has said the official did not break any regulations.

Raab’s trip abroad was “within the rules”, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office official said in a statement to UK media.

“It is his job to pursue the UK’s interests abroad, including on security, trade, and international development,” the spokesperson said.

The MP came under fire after the Sunday Mirror revealed that, on July 26, he went to Paris for talks with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and two days later, met with Princess Anne, 70, at a packed reception event while not wearing a mask.

Until recently, ordinary people in the UK had to quarantine for 10 days after visiting France, but it has become apparent that senior officials such as Raab are exempt from the rule.

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds blasted Raab, telling the Mirror that “Tories don’t understand the chaos they’ve created when ministers don’t apply the rules to themselves”.

"Senior Conservatives are taking the public for fools. It’s always one rule for them and another for everyone else."


The government’s top climate change official, Alok Sharma, was also criticized this week, after the media reported that he had visited more than 30 countries since January, including those on the high-risk ‘red’ travel list, without being obliged to take self-isolation precautions afterwards because of his role as a crown servant.

Christina Pagel, a member of the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies that seeks to provide the government with politically neutral coronavirus advice, told the Mirror that “Cabinet ministers aren’t immune from Covid”. She added that the biggest current threat to the country’s response to the pandemic was the arrival of the more contagious Beta variant of the virus from France.

Last month, the UK unexpectedly designated France an “amber plus” country, meaning that millions of UK and French citizens holidaying or living across the Channel had to self-isolate on arrival, despite being fully vaccinated. The decision was made after the Beta strain was discovered on Reunion, the small island off Madagascar – and 9,180km (5,700 miles) from Paris – that is an overseas territory belonging to France.

France was moved from ‘amber plus’ to ‘amber’ on Sunday, which means the fully vaccinated and minors no longer have to quarantine on arrival.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×