Yahoo Finance Nicola Sturgeon must pay compensation for 'hypocritical' travel ban, Andy Burnham says
Andy Burnham is demanding that Nicola Sturgeon agrees to pay compensation to Manchester businesses and residents hit by her "hypocritical" travel ban between Scotland and parts of the north of England.
The mayor of Greater Manchester accused the First Minister of treating the north of England with "contempt" by abruptly announcing the "disproportionate" legal restrictions on Friday without any consultation.
Ms Sturgeon said that from Monday, Scots would be breaking the law if they travel to Manchester or Salford, with residents in the cities also ordered by the SNP to stay away from Scotland, meaning those with holidays booked would be forced to cancel or risk being fined.
Her opponents have claimed the policy is illogical and "reeks of shameless nationalism" as no travel ban has been imposed for Dundee, which has near-identical Covid rates.
Mr Burnham said: "That is exactly what the SNP always accuse the Westminster Government of doing - just kind of riding roughshod over people. The SNP are treating the north of England with the same contempt in just bringing that in without any consultation with us.
"I just think it's double standards, it's as simple as that, it's hypocrisy. They've done to us exactly what they always claim the UK Government does to Scotland.
"I'll be asking for compensation for the individuals who might lose holidays, and the businesses that might lose bookings.
"Why should a couple from Salford who are double jabbed, who were about to go on a walking holiday in Scotland, not be able to go? It's completely disproportionate, in my view."
He added: "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've always called for from others."
According to the latest figures, Dundee has a coronavirus rate of 322.1 cases per 100,000, which experts say is highly likely to rise further in the coming weeks. No travel ban has been put in place for travel to or from the city. Meanwhile, Manchester has a rate of 333.7 and in Salford, it is 337.7.
Mr Burnham told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show he would be writing to the First Minister on Sunday to demand compensation for Manchester and Salford residents who would have to cancel holidays to Scotland, or businesses on his patch that had lost bookings.
Ms Sturgeon has also come under attack for announcing the ban at a televised press conference on Friday, rather than to the Scottish Parliament.
Ivan McKee, the SNP business minister, claimed Mr Burnham had not been consulted because the decision to ban travel had to be taken quickly.
However, the regulations banning travel were quietly made at Holyrood on Thursday morning - more than 24 hours before Ms Sturgeon announced them publicly.
Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Tories, said: "We know the law was made on Thursday morning to introduce these restrictions into Greater Manchester and a ban on travel.
"It wasn't announced until over 24 hours later. There were 24 hours that passed before anyone in Greater Manchester knew about the decision taken by the Scottish Government a day earlier."
Responding to the travel ban, Ian Murray, the shadow Scottish Secretary, said: "The decision to stop travel to Manchester when rates there are comparable to parts of Scotland reeks of shameless nationalism.
"We need to get our own house in order first and foremost, but instead the SNP are selectively banning travel long after cases have begun to spike and with no plan for enforcement."
For Scotland as a whole, coronavirus rates are 122.9 per 100,000 - by far the highest in Europe - compared to 81.3 in England.
However, no legal restrictions were put in place to prevent thousands of Scotland fans travelling to London for Friday’s Euro 2020 clash with England.
Mr McKee said: "The virus, as we know, moves very fast, decisions are made very fast and those decisions are communicated at a four nations level.
"Andy Burnham... is going to write to the First Minister about it, that's absolutely fine and I'm sure there will be a conversation about how we can keep him better informed in future."
