THE Government has slapped down business minister Paul Scully after he suggested that self-isolating was “up to individuals and employers”.

It was “crucial” to self-isolate when told and business should be supporting employees to do so, Downing Street said.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “Isolation remains the most important action people can take to stop the spread of the virus.

“Given the risk of having and spreading the virus when people have been in contact with someone with Covid it is crucial people isolate when they are told to do so, either by NHS Test and Trace or by the NHS covid app.

“Businesses should be supporting employees to isolate, they should not be encouraging them to break isolation."

Mr Scully told Times Radio that being ‘pinged’ by the Covid app would “allow you to make informed decisions” but self-isolating was “up to individuals and employers”.

The business minister told Times Radio: “The app is there to give… to allow you to make informed decisions. And I think by backing out of mandating a lot of things, we’re encouraging people to really get the data in their own hands to be able to make decisions on what’s best for them, whether they’re employer or an employee.”

Asked whether this meant people should or should not self-isolate if ‘pinged’, he said: “We want to encourage people to still use the app to be able to do the right thing, because we estimate it saves around 8,000 lives.”

However, he added that it was “up to individuals and employers”.