Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

How do lockdown restrictions differ in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson filming his address to the nation from 10 Downing Street.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson filming his address to the nation from 10 Downing Street.

Boris Johnson’s “conditional plan” for easing lockdown restrictions has put England at odds with the rest of the UK.

The prime minister said in his speech he had consulted “across the political spectrum, across all four nations of the UK” and that his plan was a “a general consensus on what we could do”.

But the leaders of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have already rejected Mr Johnson’s ‘stay alert’ messaging, opting instead to stick with the previous slogan of ‘stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’.

All three nations have powers over their own lockdown restrictions, while England’s measures are set by the government at Westminster.

The UK Government has now gone considerably further than any of the devolved administrations in setting out its road map out of lockdown, so how do restrictions differ in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

 

England

From Wednesday, people in England will be able to go out and exercise as much as they please and can even sit in the park, as long as they remain far enough away from people outwith their own household.

Those who can’t work from home are being actively encouraged to return as of Monday and the prime minister will set out how workplaces can become ‘Covid secure’.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Garden centres will be allowed to reopen from Wednesday and we could see “phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools” by early June. The hospitality sector could begin to reopen in July.

The prime minister has said all easing of restrictions will be closely monitored and is subject to a range of factors.

 

Wales

Wales announced a slight easing of restrictions on Friday to allow people to exercise more than once a day, garden centres to reopen with social distancing guidelines, and local authorities to start planning on how to safely open libraries and recycling centres.

The Welsh Government has been clear to stress that Mr Johnson’s plan applies to England only and is not UK-wide.

Along with Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales will not adopt the ‘stay alert’ slogan.

First Mnister Mark Drakeford said: “The message I will be giving to people in Wales is while they must be alert to the continuing danger of coronavirus, if you’re not out of your house for an essential purpose – and that does include exercise, it can include shopping and it must include going to work for people who can safely do so – staying at home remains the best way that you can protect yourself and others.”

 

Scotland

Meanwhile, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday the cap on daily exercise had been scrapped, but she warned that that is not an excuse to meet up in groups at parks or beaches, to sunbathe or have picnics and barbecues.

Speaking at her daily briefing in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said the situation is “fragile” and people should still stay close to home while maintaining a two-metre distance from anyone not part of their household.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The easing will not apply to those who have symptoms, are living with someone who is showing symptoms or those who are in the shielding group. It should also not be used to gather in groups.

Officials will look to see whether further changes can be made to the lockdown guidance, including increasing the number of activities people can undertake outside.

It is expected further updates could be made next weekend but Ms Sturgeon said she does not expect schools in Scotland to return as early as June, as has been reported in England.

She has asked the UK Government not to use the ‘stay alert’ messaging in Scotland and admitted she does not know the slogan actually means.

“For Scotland right now, given the fragility of the progress we’ve made, given the critical point that we are at, it would be catastrophic for me to drop the stay at home message, which is why I’m not prepared to do it,” she said.

 

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland’s road map, which is expected to only have “nuanced” changes, will be announced this week.

It extended the current restrictions for another three weeks on Thursday but rules around open-air exercise are expected to be relaxed by first minister Arlene Foster.

Ms Foster has said it is important to “move together as a bloc” with the rest of the UK to send a clear and simple message to the population.

However, she joined with her counterparts in Scotland and Wales on Sunday to reject the ‘stay alert’ home.

“On the whole, the message is to stay at home. We will say we are not deviating from the message at this time,” she said.