Andy Burnham's anger at Manchester-Scotland travel ban

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has accused the Scottish government of "hypocrisy" after it announced a travel ban to parts of the region.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday that non-essential travel between Scotland and Manchester and Salford would be banned from Monday.

Mr Burnham said the decision was "announced out of the blue" and was "completely disproportionate".

The Scottish government said it was made after "careful consideration".

A spokesman said Scottish rules on travel were "kept under active review" and could "sometimes happen at short notice" after receiving the latest data.

He added Covid rates in Manchester and Salford were "particularly high at the moment and these restrictions are intended to minimise the risk of either exacerbating the situation there or indeed allowing more virus to come back here to Scotland".

Nicola Sturgeon spoke about the latest travel rules on Friday

The decision to add Manchester and Salford was announced in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.

Mr Burnham said different arrangements could have been made "if the first minister had been in touch with us".

He said he would write to Ms Sturgeon and ask the Scottish government to compensate local people who had planned to travel to Scotland and businesses that could lose bookings.

Non-essential travel was banned between Scotland and Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen on 24 May, while travel restrictions with Bedford were lifted on Friday.

The pandemic has shone a light on devolved decision making across the UK.

Scottish ministers have flexed their legislative muscles to at times take a different approach to Downing Street when it comes to tackling the spread of Covid.

The UK government's decision last year to impose tougher restrictions on Greater Manchester sparked more debate over regional devolution, and prompted an angry response from the mayor Andy Burnham.

Now he's turned that anger towards the first minister, arguing Nicola Sturgeon's doing to Greater Manchester what she has criticised UK Ministers for doing to Scotland - taking decisions without consultation or warning.

The Scottish government insists the travel ban was carefully considered, and that as the virus moves fast, so must the government.

A flexing of devolved powers not everyone is happy about.

On Sunday, the UK recorded another 9,284 Covid cases - including 7,778 cases for England and 1,205 for Scotland - and a further six deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Both nations have seen a rise in the the seven-day infection rate with the Scottish infection rate at 128 per 100,000 people and 86 per 100,000 people in England.

Nearly 43 million people in the UK have had their first coronavirus vaccine, while 31.3 million of them have had their second jab - 59.5% of the adult population - according to latest government figures.

North-west England had the highest proportion of people in England who are likely to test positive for the virus in the week to 12 June, at a rate of about one in 180

Scotland, which has the highest infection rate in Europe but also one of the highest vaccination rates, has paused the lifting of Covid restrictions this summer due to rising cases.

'Riding roughshod'

Appearing on BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Burnham said: "I was really disappointed on Friday that the first minister of Scotland just announced out of the blue - as far as we were concerned - a travel ban saying that people couldn't travel from Scotland to Manchester and Salford, and people couldn't go the other way.

"That is exactly what the SNP always accuse the Westminster government of doing - riding roughshod over people.

"The SNP are treating the north of England with the same contempt in bringing that in without any consultation with us."

He added: "I just think it's double standards, it's hypocrisy.

"Why should a couple from Salford - who are double jabbed - who are about to go on a walking holiday in Scotland, not be able to go?

"The Scottish government can't just impose things on parts of the north of England with no discussion with us - that is simply wrong and they need to live by the same standards that they always call from others."

Speaking on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show, Scottish government trade minister Ivan McKee said a decision had to be made quickly.

"The virus, as we know, moves very fast, decisions are made very fast and those decisions are communicated at a four-nations level," he said.

He said Mr Burnham's decision to write to the first minister was "absolutely fine and I'm sure there will be a conversation about how we can keep him better informed in future".

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