To think Wales have done the right thing by ‘closing the border’

[Welshgirlinexile]

I am welsh but live in England. All my family live in wales and at the moment, because of a local lockdown in South Wales, my sister is unable to visit my elderly mother in another county in wales.

And yet until today, people from other places in the UK were allowed to drive into wales (potentially from areas with a high infection rate) and go wherever they want on their holidays.

I have read loads of criticism of this policy but aibu to think why the hell should people from outside wales be allowed to drive all over the country (potentially spreading the virus) when my family aren’t allowed to see each other in Wales?

People have made loads of sacrifices in wales so why should that sacrifice be undermined by people coming from other areas?

I can’t currently visit my mum as I am not allowed now but I could have driven 200 miles from London whereas my sister couldn’t drive 40 miles up the road. Fucking bonkers.

Aibu?

I think those who live in a border town or work cross border will have to be made exempt. But they are going to be a fairly fixed number, only going to a certain number of places, and I don't think they are at the heart of the risk.

Also make exempt those who are referred to England for NHS treatment (when that's the normal place for such procedures).

Keep 'exceptional circumstances' as an exemption too.

But expecting to privide proof of reason to cross the border doesn't sound such a bad idea, and a reduction in leisure travel sounds increasingly necessary.

It's such a pity that the virus is so contagious is that we couldn't keep the numbers down enough so that the leisure/tourism sector got a decent half term income.

People in Wales aren't being prevented from going into England unless they're in a local lockdown area.

People from England aren't being prevented from going into Wales unless they're in a local lockdown area.

The border isn't closing. That's just lazy headlines. What is happening is totally reasonable. People in local lockdown areas of both Wales and England will no longer be permitted to go into any other areas of Wales that aren't currently subject to local lockdown. Simple, and fair.

I live in a “tier 2” area.

I was meant to be travelling to an area of wales that isn’t currently locked down at half term but when the neighbouring counties we would have to drive through where locked down we postponed until next year.

It’s shit that we have had to cancel another holiday BUT I can fully understand and agree with Wales not wanting people travelling in at the moment.

@Shoxfordian Wales is in the UK as well.

Whilst I agree with the reasoning I can't help but be a bit annoyed as I'm probably going to have to postpone my wedding for a second time because my parents are in an English tier 2 area.

Yet again it means that I (from a low risk area) cannot get my daughter (Also low risk area) because irresponsible people won't stay the fuck indoors and keep spreading the virus

And yes I am looking at the mp who travelled with symptoms on the train she should have been fined

Wel for a start there are no borders into Wales.

Secondly, the supposed “closure” is only relevant to the most high risk areas so e.g. those in tier3 at the moment, so essentially they’re saying all people from Liverpool are banned.

Lastly, they have already said that they haven’t yet worked out how they’re going to be able to enforce it, meaning that it’s not enforceable.

Essentially this is just a headline grabber and nothing more.

And if Wales are going to ban people from England from coming in then presumably the welsh taxpayer alone is going to be held responsible for the damage that is going to do to their economy.

If England started to ban the Welsh from coming in the cries of racism would be heard far and wide....

I think Areas of low infection should copy this and enforce. True that loss of driving licence or passport would be a good deterrent.

You can also do roadblocks at the borders - you get then lots for roadworks. We have had them partially on with night time increase around my area for a couple of years.

@AlternativePerspective

Wel for a start there are no borders into Wales.

Secondly, the supposed “closure” is only relevant to the most high risk areas so e.g. those in tier3 at the moment, so essentially they’re saying all people from Liverpool are banned.

Lastly, they have already said that they haven’t yet worked out how they’re going to be able to enforce it, meaning that it’s not enforceable.

Essentially this is just a headline grabber and nothing more.

And if Wales are going to ban people from England from coming in then presumably the welsh taxpayer alone is going to be held responsible for the damage that is going to do to their economy.

If England started to ban the Welsh from coming in the cries of racism would be heard far and wide....

Oh give over.

The first minister tried to get the english government to do something jointly, they refused so he has to act. It's about reducing the risk in Wales (which is bad enough as it is) from high risk areas in England. The notion that this would be seen as racist is just ridiculous.

As someone who lives on the border I am not going to tolerate any road blocks. You realise that on some roads you go in out in out of the countries, which are all in the UK. This nationalism shit needs to stop.

Racist 😂😂😂

@Namenic

You obviously don’t live on border of Tier 1 and 2 areas as I do.

DD works 13 miles away, 12 of those in Tier 1. Our nearest supermarkets are in Tier 1, we are over the border as a family most days of the week, as are many others locally.

Do you really think we should be stopped at a roadblock every time? When my DD is going in for 7am or leaving work at 11pm, should she have a road block to contend with? Really?

Maybe Governments would get more people obeying their laws if they led by example.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-54546058

Law or not, this stupid MP shouldn’t have been travelling and should have resigned. One rule for them and one for the plebs.

Some of the comments on my Facebook In English and Welsh have been extremely racist.

Totally agree OP. I live in a tier 1 area very close to a tier 2 (at risk of becoming tier 3) and not far from a tier 3 area. We already get lots of weekend visitors from these areas and I can see that this weekend there will be even more. Maybe good for the local pubs/hotels etc in the short term but out cases are increasing and I can see it's only a matter of time before we go up to at least tier 2, with all the restrictions that involves quite apart form the increased risk of people getting ill. Particularly worrying since our town has a high proportion of older residents.

This is the big problem with the 'regional' approach- we live on a small island and it's very easy to move between regions.

People are allowed to travel through lockdown counties, to get from one non locked down place to another. You just aren't allowed to stop and do a bit of a shopping etc.
People are also still allows to enter lockdown counties for work or education, or another essential reason, so if you had a medical appt or were caring for someone.
What you can't do is enter or leave a lockdown county for trivial reasons.
Wales is totally right to stop people from tier 3 places, potentially spreading Covid in areas of Wales which currently has lower transmission rates.
People in Wales are not making all these sacrifices, so some selfish fucker from a high risk area can go on holiday.
Obviously if you had a family member who desperately needed your help, no one would condemn you for coming to assist. But that is totally different to just fancying a trip!
It's not racist at all (am English living in Wales, I think I'd notice racism), it's just sensible. This is entirely the government's fault for not preventing travel from tier 3 places themselves.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

As someone who lives on the border I am not going to tolerate any road blocks. You realise that on some roads you go in out in out of the countries, which are all in the UK. This nationalism shit needs to stop.

Are you going to mow down the cops like some action movie? Not sure how you can “not tolerate” a road block if there is one.

I also don't get this no road blocks thing.

Regardless if where you live, if you're in a locked down area or one with restrictions then you shouldn't be moving around freely. If you have a good reason then it'll be fine. Holidays in snowdonia are not.

Aww that's awful bringing being " racist " into the mix. I think it's a shame . We all live in the UK. Weather it be Wales England Scotland or Ireland. If everybody followed the same rules things would be alot easier , right now understanding the rules is like eating a bowl of soup with a fork .

I agree. I cancelled my Gower holiday a few weeks back as I saw this coming and wouldn't dream of going in this climate.

I don't just think it should apply to Wales though, I think we should all limit where we travel to at the moment to reduce the risk - except essential journeys etc.

I think county where I live is about to go into 2 and I live on the border of the next county which isn't going to go to 2. I do a lot over the border - shopping etc and my DC school is there too. Be interesting!

On the fence a bit. Am welsh living in England, parents still in Wales.
I totally get why they don’t want english holidaymakers coming over the border but this affects so many parents/grandchildren etc My own parents don’t have much to live for atm except for seeing their grandkids (they are fully aware of the risks and are happy to risk a fine).

Frazzled, it's okay to come so long as it's from one low transmission area to another. All that's happening really, is asking people not to travel from very high risk areas for holidays.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

As someone who lives on the border I am not going to tolerate any road blocks. You realise that on some roads you go in out in out of the countries, which are all in the UK. This nationalism shit needs to stop.

It's not nationalism shit, it's public health shit. And if people didn't act like idiots, none of this shit would be necessary.

I know what you mean about the roads though. We crossed the border about 6 times in a journey of 30 miles or so when we stayed in Herefordshire for a few days.

These rules don't take into account that peoples' lives don't revolve around county borders. I think it's a nonsense, sorry to those of you who think it's a good idea. And it can't be enforced.

I live in a border area (not Wales) and have three counties that come together. I can be in any of those counties at any one time, eg car service in one, live in another, supermarket shop in a third. The virus doesn't know about county borders.

Discouraging long distance travel is sensible, but closing borders full stop is silly.

My inlaws live in wales and we're in the uk As far as I'm concerned they can keep the border closed, maybe build a wall

Ha ha silver linings. I assume you meant England rather than the UK?

And no it's not racist because the only difference between people living in Wales and those living in England are their accents.

But expecting to privide proof of reason to cross the border doesn't sound such a bad idea, and a reduction in leisure travel sounds increasingly necessary

But how do you provide proof? My mum lives in Devon so imagine a road block on the A303. How do I prove that I am visiting her rather than going on holiday? OK I could carry something from her asking me to visit and look after her, but anyone could make something like that up. It's just not enforceable.

Ita ridiculous. Im Welsh but live in england and my parents are in s wales. Atm its a possibility that a Christmas at home will be a no go. Im fed up of the virus, its been too long and obly a small amount actually die from it. I completely disagree with all thks bollocks.