Covid lockdown variations across UK had ‘political purposes’ says Boris Johnson as he visits Wales

The different sets of Covid lockdown measures in different parts of the UK had “political purposes,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on his visit to Wales.

Speaking to Sky News, the Prime Minister claimed that “self-differentiation” between approaches to Covid lockdowns across the UK had been done with political aims in mind.

“If you look at the way the UK has proceeded in the last year there has been quite a lot of sort of self-differentiation for, perhaps sometimes for political purposes, but the overall pattern of progress has been very similar,” he said.

Boris Johnson brought in his own tier system in England in October of last year, which replaced local lockdown regulations imposed in July.

However, Wales and Scotland have been able to set their own lockdown measures and easing timetables as a result of health being a devolved matter.

The Sun newspaper reported last week that the Prime Minister “regrets” allowing the devolved nations to wield Covid-19 powers, and that it would be done “differently next time”.

‘Massive’

The Prime Minister also urged the public to be “realistic” about the prospect of the UK being hit with another wave of coronavirus infection.

He told broadcasters that while lockdowns meant the virus was now “under control”, he warned that “there probably will be another wave of the disease”.

“The numbers of deaths, the number of hospitalisations, are currently very low,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that we have got it totally licked, it doesn’t mean that Covid is over.

“We have got to be realistic about that, unfortunately there probably will be another wave of the disease, but I think that the vaccination programme has now been so massive – 33.6 million people vaccinated.

“We have built up what I think are some pretty robust fortifications against the next wave, we will have to see how strong they really are in due course.”