Coronavirus: Lockdown tensions between UK and Welsh governments grow
Coronavirus: Wales may go own way on lockdown, says Downing Street
(about 1 hour later)
People in Wales are being reminded to stay home this weekend as tensions grow between the UK and Welsh governments over lockdown.
Downing Street has said Wales and the other UK nations may move at different speeds in easing the coronavirus lockdown.
With a review due Thursday, the Welsh Government emphasised it is in charge of the rules in Wales.
It follows a call between the prime minister and First Minister Mark Drakeford and counterparts from Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It said newspaper coverage of how Boris Johnson might ease restrictions in England was "confusing".
Tensions became apparent between the Welsh and UK governments on Thursday over the future of the arrangements, amid speculation of easing in England.
But a UK government minister appealed for Wales to stick to a UK-wide approach to the next phase.
A review is due on Thursday.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford is due to speak to the prime minister in a call with his Scottish and Northern Ireland counterparts later.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said Boris Johnson "reiterated his commitment to continuing" the UK-wide approach to tackling coronavirus "even if different parts of the UK begin to move at slightly different speeds. Those decisions will be made based on the science for each nation.
Ministers in Wales have repeatedly stated they can go their own way on lockdown if they choose - but would prefer to continue with the UK-wide system.
"They all agreed that continued engagement between our administrations is vital and to remain in close contact in the days and weeks ahead."
But an article in the Guardian on Thursday claimed Mr Drakeford, desiring a four-nation approach, had not been made aware of what the prime minister was planning to do in England.
The prime minister is due to make a statement on Sunday about easing lockdown - but it is thought any changes will be very limited.
Meanwhile the Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams has announced that schools will not reopen on 1 June.
Lockdown is governed by laws that are devolved in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Ministers have to legally review them every three weeks, with the latest due on Thursday.
Members of the Welsh cabinet met this morning and are due to meet again in the afternoon - a spokesman said the first minister will announce the decision in "due course".
So far the coronavirus lockdown has remained broadly similar across the UK, with small differences - Wales has a different policy on fines and penalties, different rules on two-metre social distancing at work, and different rules on exercise.
The Welsh Government spokesman said: "Some of the reporting in today's newspapers is confusing and risks sending mixed messages to people across the UK."
Earlier he said: "It is crucially important that the people of Wales are informed clearly and accurately about any decisions we make on something as important as this."
The UK government's Welsh Secretary, Simon Hart, appealed to the Welsh Government not to go its own way.
Writing in the Western Mail, he said: "It is a UK-wide approach in this next phase which will be the best for the people and businesses in Wales."
'It doesn't seem like they are ready'
Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader Liz Saville-Roberts met the prime minister, Boris Johnson, together with the other Commons opposition leaders, on Thursday.
After the meeting she said: "I emphasised to Boris Johnson that if his commitment to the four nations of the UK is to mean anything, the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish governments must agree to any changes to the current approach," she said."The current lack of clarity is leading to huge anxiety and potential issues of people believing changes are being made ahead of this bank holiday weekend when they are not."
She also warned the prime minister to "resist the urge to move too quickly and put the health of the public first".
Before the meeting a Plaid Cymru source suggested Welsh ministers did not seem to be ready for lockdown to be lifted.
Referring to an estimate in a Public Health Wales report of the number of tests a day that may be needed for tracking coronavirus, the source said: "The Labour Welsh Government isn't even hitting a thousand tests daily, when 30,000 a day are needed according to the experts, and dozens of people are dying everyday in Wales."
'Difference between saving thousands of lives'
Health Minister Vaughan Gething said on Wednesday Wales could and would ease coronavirus restrictions at different times to England "if it's the difference between saving thousands of the lives of Welsh citizens.
But the preference remained to move with the rest of the UK.
He added: "You can guarantee that we will make the right choice for Wales, including moving at a different time out of lockdown if it is the right thing to do but our preference is to have a joint four nations conversation and a decision that works for each of the four countries".
In the daily Welsh Government press conference, Welsh NHS chief executive Dr Andrew Goodall said the "clear" message for the weekend was stay-at-home.
He added: "We know it makes a very big difference in terms of the likelihood of community transmission of the likelihood of seeing additional admissions, and we are still prepared in the NHS at this stage for the potential that we may see even further peaks of this virus, and that is particularly true as we go out of any lockdown mechanism."
