Minister: Scots can come to England for NYE
ONE of Boris Johnson’s ministers last night insisted Scots are welcome to travel to England for New Year’s Eve celebrations as Nicola Sturgeon urged them not to go out at all.
The First Minister pleaded with people north of the border not to gather and to instead ‘stay at home as much as possible’.
The Scottish Government yesterday said it would ‘discourage’ anyone from travelling to England to escape its tougher restrictions. But Work and Pensions minister Chloe Smith said people are ‘more than free to move around’ the UK over the New Year.
Asked if it would be wrong for people from Scotland to travel into England, she told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: ‘We are one country and people are more than free to move around inside our country under the general law.’
She added: ‘The best thing to do is to get boosted and to make use of lateral flow testing so that you can keep yourself
‘People are more than free to move around’
healthier and, crucially, keep those around you, wherever you are, healthier and safer too.’
Rules in Scotland include closure of nightclubs, a ban on outdoor events for more than 500 people and a cap of 100 at indoor standing events, or 200 for indoor seated events. Pubs, restaurants and venues selling alcohol must also enforce physical distancing and table service.
Scotland’s deputy first minister John Swinney yesterday said that while it is legally permitted to travel to celebrations in England, he believes that this would not be in ‘the spirit of the rules we are putting forward’.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘People are free to make their own judgments. But what we have got to recognise is that Omicron is a serious threat to absolutely everybody within our society and we have all got to take measures to protect ourselves by limiting our social contacts and connections and by complying with the restrictions we have in place. People are free to take those decisions, but I would discourage them from doing so.’
Figures yesterday showed cases in Scotland rose to 15,849 in the past 24 hours, the highest on any day since the start of the pandemic.