Scotland’s deputy first minister has defended the Scottish government’s decision for a last-minute ban of people entering the country from certain parts of England.
Residents from Greater Manchester and Salford have been temporarily banned from travelling to Scotland and vice versa which comes into effect this morning.
John Swinney told the Today programme: “We have got to take decisions based on the data and the evidence that presents itself, and take decisions which are designed to stop the spread of the virus.
“In our judgement, the rising case numbers and the high levels of the virus in the Greater Manchester and Salford area justified the decision we took and we are taking that to try and minimise the circulation of the virus.”
When questioned about the last-minute nature of the ban, he added: “That is something we will reflect on but we put in place very similar provisions in relation to Bolton, which is part of the Greater Manchester area, back in May, and we’ve just followed exactly the same approach in relation to this decision.”
Talking to the BBC Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:
“These are public health measures. I have a duty, and it’s one I take very seriously, to keep Scotland as safe as possible.
“I’m sure Andy Burnham feels the same sense of duty toward people in the Greater Manchester area.
“I’ve always got on well with Andy Burnham and if he wants to have a grown-up conversation he only has to pick up the phone but if, as I suspect might be the case, this is more about generating a spat with me as part of some positioning in a Labour leadership contest in future, then I’m not interested.
Yesterday Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham accused the Scotish Government of “double standards and hypocrisy” adding he would be looking for his constituents who planned to travel north of the border to be financially compensated by the Scottish Government.
This morning he said that residents in Greater Manchester are “thousands of pounds out of pocket” because of Scotland’s travel ban on the North West.
