Pressure is mounting on the government to release the list of countries British people can go on holiday to without having to quarantine for 14 days on their return. As lockdown restrictions are eased, confusion remains among holiday-goers over which countries would be included in so-called “air bridges” – some of which were supposed to be up and running by 6 July. There were mixed suggestions over when an announcement would be made, with No 10 indicating the details would be released later this week and briefings from other Whitehall departments suggesting it would be Wednesday or Thursday. MPs have said holidaymakers need urgent clarity to avoid them making bookings that could leave them out of pocket. Talks were ongoing on Wednesday night between the health secretary, Matt Hancock, and the devolved nations about the proposals to exempt some countries from quarantine. The shadow transport secretary, Jim McMahon, said ministers had promised to inform MPs this week on where people could book holidays. “Last week the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said he’d do an oral statement on air bridges to the House of Commons on Monday. Then on Monday he said it would later in the week. Now we know he’s not planning on doing a statement at all this week. “Holidaymakers and the travel industry need clarity. Due to government briefings and leaks, trips are being booked based on potentially erroneous reports of which countries would be included in air bridges. This could leave people out of pocket.” Labour backs the idea of air bridges but in the final measures they want to see pre-screening arrangements before departure, temperature scanning in airports, isolation zones, and an effective 48-hour-or-less test and trace scheme. France, Greece and Spain were the three countries the UK government said it would want to discuss the idea with, but shortly after the announcement Greece said it was extending its travel ban for Britons for a further two weeks until 15 July due to its infection rate, leading some to speculate that the concept might not get off the ground. The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said she would take time to consider the proposal and has criticised the level of consultation from the UK government. The Scottish justice secretary, Humza Yousaf, told the Guardian that Scotland will be looking into the UK government’s quarantine proposals in the next few days. “We have sought as far as possible a four nations approach to the issue. I joined ministers from the other devolved administrations for a discussion with the health secretary, Matt Hancock, [on Wednesday] evening to discuss the latest UK government proposals for possible ‘air bridge’ countries,” he said. “I made clear that – as the first minister has already indicated – we will take time to consider the public health impact of the proposals, as well as the data and evidence underpinning them, before announcing any changes. I hope we will be able to do that within the coming days.” Shapps said on Monday that he would announce further details including a full list of the countries and territories “later this week”. The departments for transport and health, and the cabinet, home and foreign offices, are all said to be involved in drawing up the policy, although transport is understood to be taking the lead. A government source denied the devolved nations were holding up plans. A senior Tory told the Guardian that the government needed to get on with the announcement as soon as possible. “We are marching into July and we still don’t have the countries listed as quarantine-exempt. The aviation industry is shedding jobs,” they said. “I hope we are not over-complicating matters; an R-rate lower than the UK’s should be a simple enough benchmark to deliver a list of countries deemed safe destinations.” The government said last week that the UK’s Joint Biosecurity Centre has drawn up a categorisation of countries it is deemed safe for people to enter the UK from without needing to self-isolate based on strict public health criteria. Countries have been classified as green, amber and red depending on their risk assessment. Low-risk countries in the green and amber categories will be exempt from public health measures at the border.