WELSH GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS BANNING BOXING DAY SALES

MINISTERS in Wales will decide on December 22 whether to order new lockdown measures after Christmas – and whether Boxing Day sales can go ahead at non-essential retailers.

Health minister Vaughan Gething said it would be “unusual” to impose Alert Level 4 restrictions across Wales just days or hours after allowing the sales to go ahead.

Some retailers, such as Asda, Aldi, Home Bargains and Marks & Spencer, will not be opening on December 26 anyway in order to give their workers a well-earned break. Others, including Tesco and Morrisons, are planning to open but these have been classed as “essential” retailers during the pandemic.

At a time when coronavirus levels are continuing to spiral, Mr Gething is concerned about the potential implications of allowing nonessential retailers to open on Boxing Day. The likes of Argos, Matalan and B&M have said their doors will be opening on December 26.

Mr Gething said tough choices lie ahead to bear down on the virus.

“It would not be the case, for example, that non-essential retail would necessarily continue after Christmas Day itself,” he said.

“It would be unusual, I think, to say that the whole of Wales was going into Level 4 but we nevertheless had Boxing Day sales.

“Those are considerations ministers need to take account of, in choices that we make and choices that we haven’t made yet, before any post-Christmas period, regardless of what level, whether it’s Level 3 or Level 4.”