Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, defended a ban on nonessential travel between the nation and Manchester, after its mayor lambasted the decision and called for businesses to be compensated.
Sturgeon said the ban on people from Manchester and nearby Salford entering Scotland was taken on public health grounds, based on Covid levels in the area, which was one of the first parts of England to witness the spread of the Delta variant first identified in India.
New coronavirus infections around the Greater Manchester area are running higher than in most places in England. Recent surveys point to about one in 200 people in the Greater Manchester area having the virus, three times higher than the rate of infection in Scotland.
'I have a duty, and it’s one I take very seriously, to keep Scotland as safe as possible,' Sturgeon said.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said the ban, which came into force on Monday, was disproportionate and had 'come out of the blue'