The shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, has accused the government of imposing “local lockdowns by stealth” and called for guidance limiting travel in and out of Covid hotspots to be withdrawn.
There was confusion on Tuesday after leaders in Bolton and Leicester encouraged residents to in effect ignore new government advice to not leave their local area, while a government minister said people should “use their common sense”.
Bolton’s Conservative council leader said residents should not cancel their half-term and bank holiday breaks. They were free to travel “if they behave sensibly and follow the guidance”, said David Greenhalgh.
Leicester’s director of public health said people should continue to follow existing national guidelines as before, insisting that the government had admitted it had made a “mistake” in suggesting there were travel restrictions.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, agreed people should not have to change their holiday plans, but demanded clarity from the government so that “everybody knows exactly where they stand”.
The government changed its official website last Friday to say that residents of eight areas where the variant first identified in India has been spreading rapidly should “avoid travelling in and out of affected areas unless it is essential”. About 1.7 million people live in the local authorities affected.
Local leaders and MPs reacted with fury, saying they were not told about the change. An appearance in the House of Commons on Tuesday by the vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, failed to clarify the matter.
“What we’re asking people in those affected areas is to be cautious, is to be careful – so on visiting family, meet outdoors rather than inside where possible. Meet 2 metres apart from people you don’t live with, unless you have formed a support bubble,” said Zahawi. “Yes, people can visit family in half-term, if they follow social distancing guidelines.”
But then he added: “Avoid travelling in and out of the affected areas, as the prime minister said on the 14th, unless it is essential, for example for work purposes.”
He had been summoned via an urgent question from Leicester MP Ashworth, who said it was “insulting” to inhabitants of the hotspot areas, which also include Blackburn, Bedford, Kirklees, Burnley, Hounslow and North Tyneside.
Ashworth said: “Cities like mine in Leicester, or towns and boroughs like Burnley or Bolton, or Batley and Blackburn, have borne the brunt of this crisis these last 15 months. We’ve often been in lockdown longer than elsewhere. At times we’ve felt abandoned.
“Can he understand how upsetting it is? Can he understand how insulting it is – to have local lockdowns imposed by the back door?”
Leicester’s director of public health, Prof Ivan Browne, said he had attended a meeting with government officials on Tuesday who “confirmed there are no restrictions on travel in or out of each of our areas and it was a mistake to suggest there was”.
Similarly, North Tyneside’s director of public health, Wendy Burke, said: “Following the national coverage of recently revised guidance, we have met with national officials and confirmed there are no restrictions on travel in or out of North Tyneside.”
The leader of Hounslow council, Labour’s Steve Curran, said the travel ban was ridiculous for his particular area. “For one of London’s most connected boroughs – with Heathrow on its doorstep, the M4 and A4 running through it, the Piccadilly line, the main line from Waterloo, plus the North Circular via Kew Bridge – to try and limit travel within its borders is not only impossible, it’s a ridiculous idea,” he said.
The Bolton South East MP, Yasmin Qureshi, tweeted that she had not been given any official notification of the change of government advice on travel – and underlined the fact that many of her constituents had no choice but to travel for work.
“After the past 15 months we have had in Bolton, in and out of lockdowns, not provided with adequate support for businesses and individuals, and frankly being treated with contempt by Westminster, this is another kick in the teeth,” she said.
It emerged on Tuesday that patients were being urged only to attend accident and emergency at the Royal Bolton hospital if absolutely necessary. The hospital is currently caring for 41 Covid patients, 40% of the Greater Manchester total of 112.
In the House of Commons, the Twickenham MP, Munira Wilson, challenged Zahawi about whether her constituents should be avoiding travelling across the borough boundary into neighbouring Hounslow to shop or go to school.
The minister replied: “People need to exercise that caution, that common sense.”
The prime minister’s official spokesperson defended the government’s handling of the advice on Tuesday, claiming No 10 had shared “marketing assets” – posters and social media posts – with local authorities to help them spread the word about the policy.
But like Zahawi, the spokesperson stressed the need for individual responsibility. “We are moving away from central government edicts back to the situation where the public are able to exercise their judgment and that is what we are seeing up and down the country … This is guidance, these are not statutory restrictions,” he said.
