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Wales and England have different coronavirus restrictions
Boris Johnson has rejected a demand by the Prime Minister of Wales for a travel ban in and out of Covid hotspots in England.
“There are no physical borders between Wales and England,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.
On Monday, Mark Drakeford threatened to take action if a ban is not imposed.
The UK government has advised people on Merseyside not to travel in or out of the area, but that hasn’t led to a legal ban.
The prime minister’s spokesman said the guidance was “very clear.”
Plaid Cymru asked the prime minister to act, but Welsh conservatives accused Drakeford of relying on evidence collected on the “back of a pack of cigarettes.”
Meanwhile, Mark Drakeford said a special Cobra meeting should be held to discuss the so-called “circuit breaker” lockout.
Welsh ministers have called for travel from areas with high coronavirus rates in England to be restricted, to prevent people from visiting parts of Wales where lockdowns are not in effect and where infection rates are lower.
It is the second time that the UK government has said that it would not agree to the Welsh government’s request.
Seventeen places in Wales (15 counties, one city and one city) are currently under local lockdown restrictions, effectively banning non-essential travel.
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Drakeford wrote to Johnson on Tuesday saying that the efforts in Wales “are being undermined by travelers from high prevalence areas in other parts of the UK traveling to Wales.”
He attached a scientific paper that he said “demonstrates the spread of the infection geographically and supports the case for travel restrictions as a means of controlling the spread of the virus.”
The Welsh Labor leader wrote to the prime ministers of Scotland and Northern Ireland and asked them to regulate travel in a similar way.
“It would be better if the four nations acted in concert, but in the absence of an agreed way forward, I will act to keep Wales safe,” he said.
The Scottish government said it understood Drakeford’s concerns and Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon would respond “in due course”.
Mark Drakeford urged travel restrictions through English regulations
The document, cited by Drakeford and seen by BBC Wales, concludes that “the relaxation of confinement rules in August has corresponded with an increase in cases [in Wales], which may be partly due to imports from other parts of the UK and the rest of the world. “
It adds that cases “in less urban areas” are “more likely to be imports from elsewhere and rarely lead to local forward transmission.”
But the newspaper also said the data “does not constitute definitive proof.”
UK government sources were told that the document had not been sufficiently peer-reviewed to be published.
But Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething said in the Senedd on Tuesday that the time it would take for a peer-reviewed article “would mean that we would have to wait a very long period of time before we could take any action.”
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What do people think of the border between England and Wales?
Tanat Holiday Park in Llanymynech is on the border, with 90 caravans in England and 45 in Wales.
Owner Cheryl Hall said she had found it difficult to keep customers up-to-date on ever-changing regulations and who can and cannot visit.
“There is advice on non-essential travel,” he said of the advice in Merseyside, which will enter a very high level of lockdown on Wednesday.
“But it is only a guide, not a law. It is not my place to watch over it.”
He said the people of South Wales know they can’t come to the park.
“I had a client who was here most of the summer, but when she went home, I knew she would not return. We don’t know when we will see her again.”
Janette Harrop, from St Helens in Liverpool, lives in a caravan in the park. She said: “We haven’t been home for over three months. We feel safer in the caravan.
“We hope they will prevent people from entering Wales, and those of us who are already here and have been here for a while can stay.”
She said: “Where we are from in St Helens, our Castle Heath area is also quite high, so we are better off here, where it is low, than going home and risking catching the crown.”
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Mark Drakeford has said he will take action if there is no common path to follow.
Analysis by Ione Wells, BBC’s Parliamentary Correspondent in Wales
What UK ministers want to know is whether it can be categorically proven that people traveling from critical areas in other parts of the UK have caused an increase in Covid-19 cases in Wales.
It is unclear if evidence from cases being imported, without saying exactly from where or by whom, will remove it.
Without this evidence, UK government sources say it is highly unlikely that ministers will cave in and put this current travel guide into law.
They also have questions about how the laws would be applied, something that Welsh ministers insist is possible.
And without a response from the Scottish and Northern Ireland PMs or FMs, Welsh ministers say they will have to introduce their own measures.
‘It is time to act’
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said the UK government “has shown utter disregard for Wales, our people and our democracy.
“The time to ask is over. Now is the time to act.”
Welsh conservative health spokesman Andrew RT Davies said it was “deeply embarrassing” for Drakeford and the Labor Party.
“He and his colleagues should hang their heads in shame, because following such a controversial policy on the basis of the evidence is not a way to run a government at any time, let alone during a pandemic and shutdowns that are occurring paralyzing businesses and lives “.
It is not clear what the Government of Wales will do next.
BBC Wales was told that there will be cabinet-wide discussions, with no timetable for an announcement.
Circuit breaker
The prime minister said in the Senedd that he asked the prime minister for a special Cobra meeting to discuss a “circuit breaker” system, imposing a short period of restrictions for everyone, to deal with the coronavirus.
The UK government’s Sage advisory group called for a brief lockdown three weeks ago.
Drakeford said the Welsh Government’s Technical Advisory Cell (TAC) had not yet advised ministers to implement such a system in Wales “but I take the arguments for a switch period seriously.”
“I think it is an idea that will need further examination and should be shared in perspective among the four nations of the UK,” he said, adding that the request was in Tuesday’s letter.
Drakeford added that his call for a travel ban was not “some kind of competition between Wales and England.”
“This is not about stopping the people of England from coming to Wales, nor should we fall into that kind of way of speaking,” he said.
The prime minister’s spokesman said: “What we have done is publish guidance that is very clear that people from very high risk areas like Merseyside should avoid traveling in or out of the area.”
“We have also made it very clear to the public that they must follow any local guidance issued by decentralized administrations.”
