Travellers arriving from coronavirus hotspots could face £10,000 fines and jail sentences of up to 10 years under a package of measures designed to stop new variants entering Britain. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said people who travelled to England from 33 high-risk countries would have to pay up to £1,750 to quarantine in government-designated hotels for 10 days. He also confirmed a new “enhanced testing” regime for all international travellers, with two tests required during the quarantine process from next Monday. The strictest punishments would be reserved for people who lie about their travel history and conceal recent visits to countries on the “red list”, for example by travelling via exempt countries. The move prompted consternation from Conservative backbenchers who questioned threatening people with lengthy jail sentences and large fines without a vote or debate in the Commons. Meanwhile, the Scottish government confirmed it would require people arriving on all direct international flights to enter quarantine hotels from Monday, not just those from “red list” countries. The Scottish transport secretary, Michael Matheson, said England’s approach was “not sufficient and we have therefore gone further”. Matheson said discussions were under way to reduce the risk of people circumventing the rule by travelling via England, and to ensure such travellers quarantined in a hotel in England. But no agreement with the UK government had yet been reached. The announcements came after weeks of criticism of the UK government by Labour for failing to impose tests or compulsory quarantine on passengers arriving from countries with new variants of Covid-19 or high “R” rates. Addressing the Commons, Hancock said the government had contracted 16 hotels with 4,600 rooms initially for those entering the country, a number that would be expanded soon. Anyone attempting to conceal that they had been in one of the “red list” destinations in the 10 days before arrival would face a prison sentence of up to 10 years, Hancock said. Red list countries include most of South America, southern Africa, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates. “People will need to remain in their rooms and of course will not be allowed to mix with other guests and there will be visible security in place to ensure compliance alongside necessary support, so even as we protect public health we can look after the people in our care. People who flout these rules are putting us all at risk. “Passenger carriers will have a duty in law to make sure that passengers have signed up for these new arrangements before they travel, and will be fined if they don’t, and we will be putting in place tough fines for people who don’t comply,” Hancock said. People already need a negative test at least 72 hours before they start their journey. Non-UK resident travellers from red list countries have already been banned from entry. The government would go further from next Monday, with new rules being established in England and separate measures in Scotland and Wales, Hancock said. Anyone arriving from 15 February will need to get PCR tests on days two and eight after isolating on arrival, in addition to the pre-flight tests. The tests can be booked online via a portal going live on Thursday. If they test positive, they will have to quarantine for a further 10 days. Hancock also announced a £1,000 fine for international arrivals who failed to take a mandatory test and a £5,000 penalty rising to £10,000 for anyone failing to quarantine in their designated hotel. Passengers required to stay in a quarantine hotel will need to reserve a room online in advance, the health secretary said. The £1,750 fee includes the hotel, transfer and testing. These travellers would only be allowed to enter the UK through a “small number of ports that currently account for the vast majority of passenger arrivals”, Hancock said. He came under pressure from senior Conservatives to spell out when ministers would lift the measures. One senior backbencher said: “There is real consternation among seasoned members about the 10-year jail threat, a draconian measure introduced without any consultation or vote in the Commons.” Another said Hancock appeared to be winning the argument in cabinet over how to tackle the pandemic, saying: “It is proof, if you needed it, that Hancock and the scientists have kidnapped Boris [Johnson].” Mark Harper, who chairs the Covid Recovery Group, which represents Tory backbenchers pushing for an end to the lockdown, asked when the new regulations would end. Hancock said they could not remain in place indefinitely but suggested that lifting restrictions would be linked to the performance of the vaccines against new variants. “If we get good news on the vaccination impact on hospitalisations and deaths from people who have ... new mutations, then we will be in a better place. If we do not get such good news, then we will need to use the updated vaccines to protect against the variants of concern,” he said. At the Scottish government press conference, Matheson said six hotels close to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow with a total of 1,300 rooms had been identified for the scheme, although procurement was being carried out by the UK government. He did not confirm if any rooms had so far been booked. The numbers affected are relatively small: there were 1,600 international travellers into Scotland in the last week of January, falling to 730 in the first week of February. Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, told MPs the UK government’s plans did not go far enough because half the countries where the South African variant had been identified were not included on the red list. Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs select committee, pointed out that there was still no testing at airports, with passengers able to go directly on to public transport. “If the government is serious about patching up the holes in our system and preventing new variants from being imported, then we should have testing for arrivals at the airport, with those testing positive required to stay in the quarantine hotels,” she said.