A Welsh travel ban on people coming into the country from coronavirus hotspots in the UK would be ‘unenforceable’, a police chief has said.
The new lockdown measure was announced by Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford yesterday following a row with Boris Johnson over whether parts of England should have travel restrictions in place.
The restrictions apply to people living in tier two and three areas in England, and high risk places in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and are planned to come into force at 6pm on Friday.
However, the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) said there would be difficulties identifying where people were travelling to and from and the measures add ‘yet another level of complexity’ to policing.
Mark Bleasdale, Welsh lead for PFEW, denounced the plan as ‘unenforceable because of the difficulty of identifying where people are coming from and where they are going to.’
Visit our live blog for the latest updates Coronavirus news live
He said: ‘There will also be plenty of individuals travelling legitimately from areas which are not high risk, and this will only add to the other difficulties officers face when policing the existing regulations.
‘Some areas of Wales are already in lockdown, and many individuals are already unable to travel in and out of counties unless they have good reason.
‘In other locations, provisions are more relaxed, so this proposed travel ban adds yet another level of complexity to policing.’
Mr Bleasdale added that police forces in Wales were already ‘overstretched’ due to the pandemic and that crime had returned to normal ‘pre-Covid levels’.
‘We would ask members of the public to continue to be supportive and realise this is an extremely challenging period for frontline officers,’ he said.
‘My colleagues will continue to do their utmost to protect the public in their usual professional manner.’
Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon has backed Mr Drakeford’s call to close borders within the UK.
But Downing Street has refused to do so, saying there was already ‘very clear guidance’ that people in the worst affected areas should avoid non-essential travel.
Mr Drakeford told the Welsh Parliament that as Mr Johnson had not replied to his requests for travel restrictions, work would be brought forward to allow for devolved powers to be used.
He said: ‘Evidence from public health professionals suggests coronavirus is moving from east to west across the UK and across Wales.
‘As a general rule, it is concentrating in urban areas and then spreading to more sparsely populated areas as a result of people travelling.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/15/welsh-travel-ban-on-people-from-englands-corona-hotspots-cant-be-enforced-13424995/