Matt Hancock has raised hope for Brits going on a foreign summer holiday despite the 14-day quarantine policy set to be rolled out for international arrivals.
The Health Secretary appeared on Sky News to say that he "really hopes people are going to be able to fly to go on summer holiday".
However, he told Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the UK has "got to take an approach that starts with caution."
Mr Hancock said: "We're bringing in the quarantine policy again because as the number of new infections comes down, so the proportion of infections that come from abroad increases, simply because the number of new infections domestically is coming right down."
From Monday, people arriving in the UK will need to self-isolate for 14 days but freight arrivals and those incoming from Ireland are set to be exempt.
Passengers will be required to fill out a form providing their address and phone number and could face prosecution and hefty fines if they refuse to comply.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has insisted the rule is “backed by the science” and is “essential” to save lives.
But the plan has been rounded upon by aviation chiefs and has sparked a growing Tory revolt.
In the latest blow, British Airways has launched legal action against the Government over what it calls the "unlawful" two-week quarantine.
The troubled airline's parent company IAG sent pre-action letter, the first stage of a judicial review, to ministers on Friday
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh described the Government’s quarantine policy as “irrational" and warned it has “torpedoed our opportunity to get flying in July”.
Multiple Conservative MPs have broken ranks to claim such measures will “ground the aviation industry”, with Dr Liam Fox, the former international trade secretary, saying: “I’m afraid I simply cannot get my head around the public health mental gymnastics of this policy."
It forced Ms Patel to rush to defend the policy, telling MPs that Britain is "now more vulnerable to new infections being brought in from abroad".
But even if the measure was watered down, possibly through the use of test-and-trace, several European countries including Spain and Greece have already suggested that Britons are not currently welcome, given the high levels of coronavirus here, or will face restrictions which would spoil many holidays.
