The lockdown areas in Wales (Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Newport) differ in having provisions which impose restrictions on people leaving the designated areas, and on people from outside entering. This applies to any travel leaving the areas. There are some exemptions, but leaving for leisure travel isn't one of them. In contrast the local lockdowns in England have no such restrictions on travel leaving or entering the areas.

I am afraid I haven't look at the Scottish regulations yet, but I think they follow the English approach which would mean any suggestion on travel is only guidance and not a legal requirement or enforceable.

More information here Local lockdowns in the UK

 

Wales' two biggest cities will go into lockdown as part of new restrictions being imposed in three areas.

Cardiff and the county of Swansea go into lockdown at 18:00 BST on Sunday, 24 hours after the Carmarthenshire town of Llanelli.

 

Thanks. Lists updated for Wales. Also updated for England as well (now includes Leeds, Wigan, and Blackpool).

 

Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Torfaen County Borough, and Vale of Glamorgan County Borough

All added to Wales lockdowns from 6pm today.

 

Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire County, Flintshire County and Wrexham County Borough in north Wales added to Wales lockdowns from 6pm on Thursday, 1st October.

 

Thanks, now added.

Also worth noting that there has been a change for certain places for the local lockdowns in England. These have generally only prohibited mixing of households in private dwellings, but since yesterday some areas (e.g. North East) no longer allow any mixing of households gatherings in any indoor place.

 

And all the rage in Scotland is the chat of a full national circuit breaker lockdown in Scotland.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c...box=1601552672

 

And a further worrying development I have just seen reported by the Telegraph: they believe that Wales are "actively considering" plans to force visitors from highly infected regions of the UK to quarantine. I also suspect that if they do, Scotland may well follow suit.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...uk-quarantine/

 

Sardinia attempted to do something of that kind in late August (and intelligently destroyed the last few weeks of the summer season) before judges slapped their wrist for doing something patently anti-constitutional (movement is a central government prerogative in Italy). Could a UK nation do something like this?

 

I think that the legal case in the UK would be somewhat different (and indeed, when Scotland first mentioned the possibility in principle, Westminster, whilst expressing outrage stayed well clear of suggesting that this would be illegal). The four nations are competent for health policy (hence the differentiated quarantines and decisions of local lockdowns made by the relevant administrations rather than central Government) and would undoubtedly make the case that this is simply a public health provision.

It is of course possible that some may go to court to try and invalidate the decisions (presumably on the grounds that it creates unequal restrictions to freedom of movement within the UK?), but my personal guess is that their work would be cut out for them. If it is acknowledged that the four nations can impose local restrictions/lockdowns to specific cities, counties or districts, as well as to decide on quarantine for people who have been to given countries, then it seems to me that it would be hard to argue that they would not be allowed to impose similar restrictions for people arriving from parts of the UK which are affected by even higher infection rates especially if they provide a specific and transparent criterion to justify the restriction (ie not a blanket "the rest of the UK" but specific counties regions with, say, infection rates above 200 at decision time).

 

This is in response to what Wales sees as illogical and inconsistent policies in England, where someone living in a locked-down, high-risk area has restrictions placed upon what they can do within that area but is nevertheless free to travel to other parts of the country (and even other countries).

In Wales, no-one may enter or leave a locked-down area without a good reason, and all they are really asking is that England introduce a similar policy.

 

Fully agree with your interpretation, though I'm not convinced that Westminster will change their approach accordingly.

Meanwhile, a new interesting article in the Guardian who believe (rightly or wrongly) that the Government are favouring the idea of a single test after x days of quarantine rather than airport testing. They mention the previously reported possibility of a pre-travel test too but they believe that this would not be the favourite option for a number of ministers. Incredibly, it seems that Mr Schapps is still referring to the nonsensical 7% figure. Maybe someone should volunteer to explain to the people who can make a difference how to read those figures, where they come from, and what they actually mean as it seems that nobody has been able to successfully convey the message yet.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...for-travellers

 

Indeed. There's nothing to stop someone from Manchester which now has the highest infection rate in the UK to travel to North Wales to climb Snowdon while someone who lives in Capel Curig 5 miles away or Llandudno 30 miles away cannot do so without breaking the law.

 

Gwynedd to be added to the local lockdowns in Wales from 6pm on 10 October. List in post 14 updated.

 

Not the whole of Gwynedd but it�s a �hyper-local lockdown� covering just eight wards in the city of Bangor.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54484035