New Welsh ban on border crossings
Frontier with England is ‘hardest for centuries’
THE border between England and Wales is now the ‘ hardest for centuries’ declared the Welsh leader yesterday as residents were banned from leaving.
First Minister Mark Drakeford has plunged the nation into a 17-day ‘firebreaker’ lockdown which is due to end next Monday.
But he said Welsh people will be banned from leaving Wales plus travelling abroad while there is a lockdown in England.
This travel ban will apply even though the Welsh lockdown will end with shops, gyms, schools and places of worship reopening.
Mr Drakeford said the border with England may well now be the hardest it has been ‘for several centuries at least’.
Residents in Wales will not be allowed to travel outside the country without a reasonable excuse when the firebreak ends, he said in Cardiff.
England and Wales share a ‘long and porous border’ with around 150,000 people crossing daily in normal times, he added. ‘It is really important that as we open up, Wales doesn’t become an escape for people seeking to circumvent the new tighter restrictions imposed by the Prime Minister,’ Mr Drakeford said.
‘We want to keep Wales safe and we want to keep the United Kingdom safe as well.
‘ There will be no travel restrictions inside Wales but during the month-long lockdown in England, travel will not be permitted outside Wales without a reasonable excuse. We still have a week left of the firebreak, a week to make a real difference to the course of this virus, to prevent our NHS from being overwhelmed and to save lives.’
Mr Drakeford added that hospitals in Wales are treating more than 1,000 patients with Covid-related conditions.
Speaking of the ban on international travel, he said: ‘It just doesn’t make sense to leave that possibility open to people in Wales when only Cardiff airport will be available to them. Leaving Cardiff airport open would be a magnet to draw people from other parts of the UK at a point where we don’t want that to happen.’
Mr Drakeford said the announcement of a second lockdown in England came as a ‘surprise’, with his government only finding out through newspaper reports.
From Thursday, only those carrying out ‘essential’ work would be allowed in and out of the Wales, he added.
Those who live in Wales but work in England will have a ‘reasonable reason’ for travelling and the same will apply the opposite way around.
He offered no details on how the travel bar would be enforced although it is likely to be in the same way as the current ban on those from coronavirus hotspots in England crossing into Wales.
Police forces in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Gloucestershire are encouraging drivers they spot from Wales to turn back if officers ‘ are not satisfied with their explanation’.
If they refuse, police will inform colleagues in Wales so they can issue fines.
Those caught breaking the rules in Wales can be fined up to £10,000, with penalties starting at £60. But the Police Federation of England and Wales has called the latest restrictions ‘unenforceable’.
‘We want to keep safe’