Criticism against rules penalising workers and banning outdoor protest could mark a turning point in the pandemic.
Image: A protest in Cardiff earlier this year that could be deemed illegal under new Covid measures brought in by Welsh Government. By Tom Davies.
Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, is facing a growing backlash over the new raft of Covid measures announced earlier this week in the wake of the Omicron variant.
The criticism is coming from sections of the public but also from unions and the left, in a sign that the consensus around lockdown restrictions is fracturing.
Coronavirus cases are rising fast in Wales, with 1,177 Omicron cases of the highly transmissible variant now detected . The total is likely to be far higher.
This is not the first time that Welsh Government have been attacked over Covid measures, but a backlash from those who have been more supportive of lockdowns in the past, as well as growing popular anger, could mark a turning point in policy responses to the pandemic.
On Monday, the Welsh Labour Government announced that all outdoor sporting events would have to be played behind closed doors from Boxing Day.
“Unfortunately, the new omicron variant is a significant development in the pandemic and could cause a large number of infections,” Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said.
But the decision was criticised by football fans online, with the grassroots Welsh Football Fans for Independence group sharing one supporter’s comment questioning the move: “How many people do they think attend matches in the Welsh leagues?,” they asked. “They must actually think it’s in the thousands. A few hundred outdoors poses little to no risk…”
Some clubs also questioned the move and highlighted its potential impact. Conwy Borough FC said that they found the requirement to play Tier 2 football behind closed doors “utterly bewildering.”
Merthy Town FC said that the decision could be tough for the mental health of fans. “Going to football can be the lifeblood for many people. When that is taken away to keep you and others safe, that can be hard,” they said.
But the anger over the sporting announcement was quickly overshadowed a day later, when on Tuesday news broke that individual workers in Wales could be fined up to £60 if they went into work when they could do their jobs from home.
This brought a swift reaction from trade unions in Wales, with the Wales TUC saying that they hadn’t even been consulted on the measure and expressed their “shock and concern at the decision to penalise workers.”
“A worker is not responsible for their place of work, their employer is. This sets a really worrying precedent that the responsibility is somehow shared, and is at best naïve. We hope Welsh Government urgently repeals this to remove the fine on workers,” said Wales TUC General Secretary Shavanah Taj.
Ms Taj said that even though the Wales TUC had met with Welsh Government just days before the plans were published on 18th December, they had not been made aware of them.
In a sign of growing frustration over the new measures, she went on to criticise Welsh Government over the spectator ban and their failure to protect workers.
“The decision to stop live sports events at short notice with no mention of the workforce shows a real failure to consider the people that staff these events who will now lose their shifts – and most likely their pay – just days before Christmas,” Ms Taj said.
“While we recognise the main failing here is the UK Government’s decision to not reinstate the furlough and SEISS schemes, we again urge government to put financial support in place for the nightclubs and sports events workers who are likely to be laid off as a result of decisions taken by the Welsh Government.”
Asked about the £60 fine for workers on Wednesday, Mark Drakeford confirmed its existence but criticised “unhelpful reporting” around the issue, saying the focus would be on penalising employers and the measure was there to help workers.
He also claimed the fine mirrored an earlier piece of legislation and claimed that no worker would be fined.
This was disputed, however, when the Plaid Cymru MS Luke Fletcher asked the First Minister about the proposals in The Senedd.
Mr Fletcher said his understanding was that the regulations, which came into force on the 20th December 2021, “placed a new duty on individuals to work from home where it is reasonably practicable to do so, and a new offence punishable by Fixed Penalty Notice if contravened.”
He said that because this was a new law not included previously, members of the Senedd had not voted on it and said they must now be given the opportunity to “strike down this provision.”
Following Mr Drakeford’s interview, the Wales TUC said whilst it was “relieved” that the focus of enforcement will be on employers, it was still “opposed to the idea that the potential fine on workers would help them.”
“We strongly oppose the individualisation of the employer/worker relationship and have again called on Welsh Government to remove the part of the regulations which permits enforcement officers to issue a £60 fine to individuals in relation to this,” Wales TUC said.
Then on Wednesday, Welsh Government also brought in fresh measures covering hospitality and indoor and outdoor gathering.
These measures mean that from Boxing Day, “Large events will not be allowed indoors or outdoors. The maximum number of people who can gather at an indoor event will be 30 and 50 outdoors.” The only exemptions were for team sports where 50 spectators and the players would increase the overall number and events involving children.
This means that outdoor protests are effectively banned and made a criminal offence, as the overwhelming majority are larger than 50 and there is no exemption.
The move mirrors an earlier ban in the spring by Welsh Government that was criticised at the time by an array of protest groups, including Black Lives Matter, the People’s Assembly, Momentum, Extinction Rebellion and unions for being ineffective and anti-democratic.
Responding to the latest announcement, a spokesperson for People’s Assembly Wales said that “It is extremely dangerous and an affront to democracy for Mark Drakeford to remove our right to protest.”
They listed multiple injustices that had taken place in Wales during the pandemic which were met with protests, from the deaths of young Black men following police contact to workers being sacked and asylum seekers protesting horrific conditions in west Wales.
They said the move gives “police license to target activists as they did youth seeking accountability from them over the death of Mohamud Hassan and Sarah Everard. It also means that it is more difficult to ensure protests, which happen anyway regardless of bans, are Covid safe with stewarding, social distancing and masks.”
The group also added that hour long outdoor events where people wear masks and space out is a low risk activity and not a driver of the spread of Covid.
“So this ban on masked and socially distanced protest does little to reduce the spread of Covid, but does allow attacks on working class and marginalised groups to happen with no right of resistance. The ban must be lifted.”
Separately, the Plaid Cymru MS Heledd Fychan, seen as on the left of the party, said that she was ‘very disappointed’ that an exemption hadn’t been made for Park Run activities in Wales and bemoned a “failure to understand how they are operated and organised by volunteers,” adding that the “Risk of transmission [is] not evidenced, and [there are] multiple health and wellbeing benefits for participants.”
The criticism from unions, the left, Plaid Cymru and those previously supportive of Welsh Government’s measures represents a new challenge to Mark Drakeford and his government.
This comes on the back of the introduction of Covid Passes in Wales, which saw an independent cinema in Swansea rebel against the measures in a high profile furore that the far right tried to capitalise on.
The question of Covid policy is not going away. On Saturday 18th December, the Lancet journal noted that “The window for pursuing the elimination of SARS-CoV-2 has closed.” due to a lack of coordination over vaccine equity in particular.
This means that government decisions around the virus are likely to become more contested as time goes on, and the left will need its own response as well.
