Covid: Welsh Tory leader calls for UK-wide approach to rules

Andrew RT Davies says it is a "time for consistency" on areas where all four UK chief medical officers agree

A "common framework" of UK-wide Covid rules should be adopted, according to the leader of the Tories in the Senedd.

Andrew RT Davies wants Welsh ministers to work with the UK government to provide "consistency" in areas where all four UK chief medical officers "undoubtedly agree".

Mr Davies said devolution "shouldn't mean the Welsh Government should always do things differently".

Wales currently has a lower Covid case rate than England and Northern Ireland.

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The youngest pupils will return to Welsh primary schools the week after the February half-term, but English schools are not set to reopen until the start of March.

Speaking in the Senedd on Tuesday, the first minister said he was "pleased" the Welsh Government had "regular meetings with the UK government every Wednesday - and a number of days in between most weeks now - where we are able to talk about common approaches".

Wales has a lower Covid case rate currently than England and Northern Ireland

But Mark Drakeford added: "We will all [four governments in the UK], nonetheless, be calibrating the decisions that we make in the circumstances that we face.

"The number of people falling ill with coronavirus per 100,000 of the population in Wales is falling at the moment every day.

"It's about half the level that is to be seen across the border in England. I wouldn't want to deny Welsh businesses or outdoor attractions the chance of opening earlier if our circumstances allowed that to happen."

Boris Johnson has said he intends to announce plans to ease England's lockdown restrictions from the 22 February.

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Writing in the Sunday Times, the Conservatives' Senedd leader said his party "rejects the 'how can Wales be different just for the sake of it' approach of Welsh Labour."

Mr Davies said: "That doesn't mean each and every decision made by a Conservative government in Wales would be identical to one made by a Conservative government in Westminster.

"But it's time for consistency in areas where all four chief medical officers of the United Kingdom undoubtedly agree, rather than persisting with the professor in the Bay's policy of poking the prime minister in the eye at every turn.

"Like people and business across Wales, we want to cut the politics and see the adoption of a common framework on restrictions."

In his article, Mr Davies referenced a recent YouGov poll conducted in Wales.

The poll from January suggested 63% of respondents believed decisions around lockdown measures should happen at the same time for the whole of the UK even if some areas are at different levels than others at reducing the spread of the virus.

A separate question asking how coronavirus lockdown rules are decided suggested that 47% believed the UK government should decide the rules for the whole of the UK, 43% said devolved governments should decide the rules, with 10% saying they didn't know.