London:
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been forced to cut short his holiday with fiancee Carrie Symonds and their baby son Wilfred and dog Dilyn after the location of their cottage in the Scottish Highlands was leaked, triggering security concerns, according to a media report.
Johnson, 56, had taken time off for a so-called “staycation” within the UK during the peak summer holiday month of August when ministers often take a few weeks off from work. The UK prime minister had chosen a remote cottage in Scotland but after photographs of the location emerged, he was forced to cut short the break and fly back to Downing Street on Thursday evening, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reports.
A source close to the family told the newspaper their discovery had caused safety concerns and made it impossible for them to stay until the weekend as planned. Unlike former British Prime Ministers, including David Cameron and Theresa May, who had allowed the press to take images of their summer holidays, Johnson had tried to keep his trip strictly private. But pictures emerged recently, showing him out and about and also a bell tent pitched in a field next to the holiday home.
According to reports, the tent was packed away after the landowner accused Johnson of camping without permission. Kenny Cameron, a sheep farmer, told reporters that Johnson and Symonds, 32, also lit a campfire without asking after climbing over a fence. “Usually if people want to go inside a fenced area they ask for permission first, but I was not asked at all. It is only polite to ask,” he said.
Metropolitan Police officers from the UK PM’s security detail apologised to Cameron at the scene, explaining that Johnson had believed the field to be part of the holiday cottage setting. According to its website, the “secluded and spacious” three-bedroom cottage on the Applecross peninsula in Scotland overlooking the island of Skye is fully booked for most of this year at a cost of around 1,000 pounds a week.
“This cottage, with its own walled garden, enjoys a gloriously sunny position on the seashore with spectacular views towards the islands of Raasay, Rona and Skye,” the listing notes. Downing Street has refused to comment on the prime minister’s holiday or it being cut short. When asked about his summer holiday plans earlier, Johnson had said he hoped for a “brief staycation to creep into the agenda, if that’s possible” as air travel continues to remain restricted amid the coronavirus lockdown. The UK has set up a list of safe zone countries for travel, which has been continuously amended. Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago became the latest to be taken off the safe list, requiring anyone returning to the UK from those destinations to quarantine for 14 days.
