The first minister of Scotland has defended the non-essential travel ban with Manchester and Salford. This is due to an angry reaction from the mayor of the area. Andy Burnham of Greater Manchester has accused the Scottish Government of hypocrisy. But Nicola Sturgeon has said that the decision was for the public health measure. It is more dependent on the Covid levels in the area.
The opposition politicians in Scotland have said that there is a lack of consistency and lack of consultation. However, Ms. Sturgeon said that she had a duty to keep Scotland safer.
She has always been well with Andy Burnham. If he wants to start up a conversation, he can call easily. She continued, “But if, as I suspect might be the case, this is more about getting a spat with me as part of some positioning in a Labour leadership contest of the future, then I am not interested.”
The first minister said she got the confusion from Mr. Birmingham’s position. Back in May, they imposed a travel restriction on Bolton for the same reason. Andy Burnham is the mayor of Bolton. There is not any issue on his part. Sturgeon has said that the restrictions would not get enforced with the previous travel rules. Also, it would be in place.
Appearing on the reports, Mr. Burnham has said that the travel restrictions have the announcement “out of the blue ”.
This is exactly what the SNP is always accused of the Westminster government of doing. The SNP is also treating the north of England with similar contempt for bringing that in without any kind of consultation with them.
Murdo Fraser, the spokesperson of Scottish Conservatives, says Mr. Burnham is correct to express the concern regarding this ban.
The city of Dundee is having a case rise rate very similar to Manchester. Thus he thinks the travel ban on Manchester is quite unfair.
Dundee has the highest Covid case rate in Scotland. It has also recorded 487 new cases in June. Manchester has 1928 cases, and Salford has 880 cases in the same period.
Jackie Baillie, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, thinks the ban is hard to understand. There is no consultation for it. Also, there is no dialogue or concern. Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the provisions that took place are consistent. Mr. Burnham said he would be describing his concern to the Scottish Government to ask how it will compensate the businesses in Manchester.
On Sunday, the UK recorded another 9284 cases. Both Scotland and England are having a rise in the infection rate.
Credits: BBC
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