Confirmed - from Wednesday. Glad to see that the case rate in my neighbourhood was falling... ah, hipsters.

Just reading post #103, would a B2B flight LHR-GLA/EDI for a tier point run be currently illegal under the Scottish legislation?

You would have to argue that you are relying on this allowance https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2...200389_en.pdf;

I think easily argued if you were transiting and doing say DOH-EDI-LHR. A bit more difficult to argue if doing a back to back.

Of course for EDI, GLA, and ABZ you do not have to go landside and therefore are unlikely to encounter any police or border force officers in any case, so you would not need to have the discussion to start with.

Confirming that this includes overnight stays in Tier 1 and Tier 2 areas?

I know that its clear that advice to not travel out of Tier 3 is just advice but some media outlets seem to say no overnight stays outside of tier unless essential. I know there is clear guidance that international travel is OK but just want to confirm that going to say, Cornwall, from London and booking a hotel or house is legal and any venue that rejects the booking would do so out of their own choice (though easy to avoid for someone with the option of a non-Tier 3 billing address on a credit card).

yes correct, regardless of what area you are in, there is no legal restriction or offence in within England travelling to a tier 1/2 area, and no legal restriction or offence staying overnight away from home in that tier 1/2 area. There would be no basis in the current tier law for the hotel in the tier 1/2 area to refuse you staying there - although the hotel may have their own policy but i haven't seen any doing that yet.

if you live in a tier 3 area you do take restrictions with you when you go to a tier 1/2 area, but these are the restrictions around mixing of households and gatherings. You must adhere to them when in your tier 3 area or if you go to a tier 2/1 area. These restrictions around gatherings and household mixing are the ones which you carry with you when moving to another tier area.

There are no restrictions on the individual around what shops and businesses you can or can't go to, so if you go to a tier 1/2 area you can go to the pub or restaurant there as long as you stick to your restrictions around not mixing households and taking part in gatherings.

Changes to areas in England with effect from Wednesday 16 December:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/.../contents/made

Note that Essex County Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, and Thurrock Borough Council were all in tier 2 currently. The areas have been subdivided, with some parts remaining in tier 2, and some being moved to tier 3.

Tier 2 changes
Essex County Council
Hertfordshire County Council
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Thurrock Borough Council

Sub-areas remaining in tier 2

Colchester Borough Council
Dacorum Borough Council
East Hertfordshire District Council
North Hertfordshire District Council
Stevenage Borough Council
St Albans City and District Council
Tendring District Council
Uttlesford District Council
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

Moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3
East of England:
Basildon Borough Council
Braintree District Council
Brentwood Borough Council
Broxbourne Borough Council
Castle Point Borough Council
Chelmsford City Council
Epping Forest District Council
Harlow District Council
Hertsmere Borough Council
Maldon District Council
Rochford District Council
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Three Rivers District Council
Thurrock Council
Watford Borough Council

London:
City of Westminster
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
London Borough of Barnet
London Borough of Bexley
London Borough of Brent
London Borough of Bromley
London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Croydon
London Borough of Ealing
London Borough of Enfield
London Borough of Hackney
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
London Borough of Haringey
London Borough of Harrow
London Borough of Havering
London Borough of Hillingdon
London Borough of Hounslow
London Borough of Islington
London Borough of Lambeth
London Borough of Lewisham
London Borough of Merton
London Borough of Newham
London Borough of Redbridge
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
London Borough of Southwark
London Borough of Sutton
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Waltham Forest Council
London Borough of Wandsworth Council
Royal Borough of Greenwich
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
The Common Council, in respect of the City of London
The Sub-Treasurer, in respect of the Inner Temple and the Under Treasurer, in respect of the
Middle Temple

Here are the case rates per regions:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f501d3af78.jpg

I was wondering how London was already so fast upwards a few days after a 4-week lockdown, but looking at that graph the numbers were going up before the lockdown even ended. Not good...

If your area is now moving from tier 2 to 3, the guidelines state you should avoid travel to a tier 1/2 area. Does that mean that it is ok to travel into London as that is also tier 3? Living literally within a mile of the London boundary, I did think that being tier 2 would mean I shouldn’t travel into London, but now that my area will also become tier 3, is travelling allowed on the same basis that travel between London boroughs is allowed?

They are guidelines only. There is no legal restriction in terms of traveling within England, including travelling between any tier areas.

I would not worry about it to be honest.

So does that mean travelling to another part of the UK for a getaway over a weekend form Tier 3 is allowed (in terms of the SI), as long as one follows Tier 3 rules whilst away?

gov.uk says:
But then also says you should only leave a Tier 3 area in a certain list of situations.

(Note I am not in the UK at the moment so this is not me trying to circumnavigate the COVID restrictions, just trying to understand as it seems to be a bit contradictory...)

https://twitter.com/profnfenton?ref_...5Es1_&ref_url=


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9c1bb4623c.png

Just to note, I didn't say UK quite deliberately. I am only talking about England. Scotland and Wales do have mandatory travel restrictions, and these are in law. See post 103 for Scotland, and posts 359 & 360 for Wales.

In terms of England, yes there is government guidance on travel between some areas. It is guidance only though, there is no legal force to it whatsoever and no offence is committed by traveling around England regardless of what tier you live in or what tier you visit. You may also stay away from home overnight if you wish. There are no movement restrictions in the SI governing the tier system in place since 2 December. So the answer to your question in your first question, yes you can if you replace UK with England.

You do take your tier restrictions with you when you travel, but the restrictions you take with you relate to mixing households and gatherings. So if you live in tier 3 where you can't mix households, you should not go to a tier 1 area and mix households. But as long as you are sticking to your mixing and gathering restrictions, you can go to a tier 1/2 area and go to any shop, pub, hotel, restaurant which is open in that tier 1/2 area as normal.

Tbh there is a lot of confusion on this generally because there is confusion between what the law says and what the guidelines says, the two don't quite match and I think it isn't clear sometimes which bit is mandatory and which bit is advice - I think there is some deliberate blurring going on. The guidelines are broader that the law, and the problem is many are just stating the guidelines as if they are the law.

Thanks Karfa, another one if I may.

if you return to England from a country abroad with a requirement to isolate for 10 days and elect to use the new test and release scheme, which would allow you to end isolation after a clear covid test taken on day 5, can you then travel to Wales or Scotland. As I understand it Wales and Scotland haven’t adopted test and release.

strictly speaking no for the reason you mention, as only England is doing test to release.

if you do release from your self isolation after a negative test on day 5, but subsequently go to Scotland or Wales within the original 10 day period, you would have to resume your self isolation whilst in Scotland or Wales for the remainder of the 10 day period.