The government has insisted the foreign secretary has acted within the Covid rules it set regarding travel quarantine.
It comes after Dominic Raab was criticised in a newspaper report for allegedly avoiding quarantine rules upon his return to the UK from France.
According to the Sunday Mirror, Raab reportedly dodged the rules by failing to self-isolate late last month.
At the time, UK arrivals from France had to quarantine for 10 days.
But the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told the newspaper that Raab acted within the rules.
This means government ministers can skip quarantine if they go on essential business trips abroad, even in red list countries.
But people arriving from red list countries have to self-isolate for 10 days in a government-approved hotel – and the price is set to hike from £1,750 to £2,285 per person from 12 August.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “The Foreign Secretary travels on diplomatic business within the rules.
“It is his job to pursue the UK’s interests abroad, including on security, trade, and international development.”
On Friday, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said the prime minister will not have to quarantine despite the fact that a member of the team accompanying him to Scotland this week tested positive for Covid.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister regularly visits communities across the U.K., and all aspects of visits are carried out in line with Covid guidance.
“The prime minister has not come into close contact with anyone who has tested positive.”
Last month, Boris Johnson abandoned plans to avoid quarantine after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace following backlash.
The prime minister and chancellor Rishi Sunak had originally planned to take daily tests rather than self-isolate following meetings with Health Secretary Sajid Javid who tested positive for Covid-19.
And in June, former health secretary Matt Hancock was accused of breaking his own Covid social distancing rules, after images emerged of him kissing his close government aide .
Hancock has been accused of “Tory Hypocrisy” for criticising Sage government adviser Professor Neil Ferguson over breaching lockdown last year to have an affair.
In May 2020, the health secretary claimed Professor Ferguson had an “extraordinary” behaviour which left him “speechless”.
He told Sky News: “I think that he took the right decision to resign.”
And he added he could not bring himself to keep Ferguson in his job: “That’s just not possible in these circumstances.”
Hancock insisted last year that “social distancing rules are there for everyone, they are incredibly important and they are deadly serious.”
He told Sky News: “The reason is that they are the means by which we manage to get a control of this virus.”
And asked if he thought Ferguson should be prosecuted, he told the channel “you can imagine what my views are”.
Related: The harshest reactions to Boris Johnson’s self-isolation u-turn farce
