UK will be "ruthless" over quarantine, Johnson says

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government was prepared to be ruthless with even its closest partners over COVID-19 quarantine rules, after he was asked if France would be removed from the government's safe travel list.

"We've got to be absolutely ruthless about this, even with our closest and dearest friends and partners around the world," he told reporters on a visit to Northern Ireland.

"We will be looking at the data a bit later on this afternoon ... looking at exactly where France and other countries are getting to, and you know we can't be remotely complacent about our own situation."