Covid: Manchester-Scotland travel ban comes into force

A ban on non-essential travel between Scotland and Manchester and Salford has come into force.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the restriction on Friday, saying it was because of high levels of Covid in the area.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has reacted angrily to the ban, accusing the Scottish government of "hypocrisy".

Opposition politicians in Scotland have called the measure "inconsistent".

Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Conservatives' spokesman for Covid Recovery, said Mr Burnham was "absolutely correct" to express concern about the ban and the "lack of consultation" over its introduction.

Mr Fraser told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme there was a "lack of consistency" in the Scottish government's approach.

"We know that the city of Dundee, for example, has case rates very similar to Manchester," he said.

"So why is there a travel ban being introduced for Scots going to Manchester, but there are no similar restrictions put in, in relation to Dundee?"

Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, told BBC Scotland that people would find the ban hard to understand.

"This has just been put in place without any consultation, without any dialogue and without any concern for either the people of Manchester or the tourism industry in Scotland," she said.

"Are we consistent in saying it's OK to travel in and out of areas of Scotland where the rates of infection are higher than they are in Manchester? That's the inconsistency that people just do not understand."

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the provisions that had been put in place were "consistent" with approaches taken in the area previously.

Non-essential travel was banned between Scotland and Bolton in Greater Manchester, and Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire on 24 May.

Mr Swinney said the latest measure was an "extension" of existing restrictions brought in because of concerns over the Covid case rate in the wider Greater Manchester area.

"Obviously there is is scope for further dialogue about these questions, but fundamentally people know that we take these decisions based on the data and the evidence in front of us.

"We did that in relation to Bolton, which is part of Greater Manchester, and we've done that in the wider area in the announcements we made on Thursday."

Mr Burnham said at the weekend he would be writing to the Scottish government to ask how it would compensate businesses in Manchester who could lose bookings.

But Mr Swinney said that would not be "appropriate".

"What we all have to do is put in place the arrangements to support businesses within our own areas to try to help them through the challenges that they face in a pandemic," he said.

"So we put in place the arrangements for the support to business within Scotland."

Asked whether similar travel restrictions should be introduced in Dundee, Mr Swinney said the Scottish government would need to look "very carefully" at "localised situations".

"We've dealt with localised situations around the country and we will continue to do so by taking the measures that are necessary to suppress the circulation of the virus," he said.

"These have been through increased testing, through an expansion and roll-out of the vaccination programme and we will continue to take all of these measures as we consider them to be appropriate."

On Sunday, the UK recorded another 9,284 Covid cases - including 7,778 cases for England and 1,205 for Scotland - and a further six deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Both nations have seen a rise in the the seven-day infection rate with the Scottish infection rate at 128 per 100,000 people and 86 per 100,000 people in England.

North-west England had the highest proportion of people in England who are likely to test positive for the virus in the week to 12 June, at a rate of about one in 180.

Scotland, which has one of the highest infection rates in Europe but also one of the highest vaccination rates, has paused the lifting of Covid restrictions this summer because of rising cases.