London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

Scotland and Wales both act to tighten rules amid Omicron spread

Scotland and Wales both act to tighten rules amid Omicron spread

Nicola Sturgeon cancels Hogmanay street party as Wales brings in £60 fines for failing to work from home

Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay street party has been cancelled, while in Wales employees face £60 fines for failing to work from home as governments tightened rules to limit the spread of the Omicron variant.

The Scottish and Welsh governments also imposed limits on sporting events from Boxing Day.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, reassured the public that they would not have to change their Christmas Day plans as she appealed to everyone to reduce their social contact and stay at home as much as possible in advance of Christmas and after the festive weekend.

Sturgeon told MSPs on Tuesday that further protections were necessary, including all outdoor events being limited to 500 people, and indoor events including concerts limited to 200 people seated, or 100 standing, with 1-metre physical distancing required for any events still going ahead.

The Welsh government said all sporting events would be held behind closed doors from 26 December and introduced a legal requirement to work from home unless there was a reasonable excuse not to, accompanied by a £60 fixed penalty notice for workers and £1,000 fines for companies.

The GMB union warned this would affect “the poorest, most vulnerable workers”, while the Wales TUC general secretary, Shavanah Taj, expressed “shock and concern” at the decision.

Scotland’s new rules will hit the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers on 2 January and large-scale Hogmanay street parties: Edinburgh’s was planned to go ahead at a reduced capacity of 30,000. Omicron cases have increased in Scotland by more than 50% in a week.

Acknowledging the disappointment of those looking forward to such events, Sturgeon said: “The much higher transmissibility of Omicron means large gatherings have the potential to become very rapid super-spreader events, putting large numbers at risk of getting infected very quickly. Limiting these events helps reduce the risk of widespread transmission.”

She said this would also cut down the transmission risks of fans travelling to and from matches. “And second, these large events put an additional burden on emergency services, especially the police and ambulance services,” she added.

Her statement included some other changes:

*  Non-professional indoor contact sports for adults should not take place during the three-week period from 26 December.

*  A requirement for table service only will be reintroduced for venues serving alcohol for consumption on the premises.

*  ndoor hospitality and leisure venues will be asked to ensure 1-metre distancing between groups.

*  People meeting indoors at home or in hospitality or leisure venues should be in groups of no more than 3 households.

Sturgeon told MSPs that the S-gene dropout indicator for the Omicron variant now accounted for 62.9% of all cases in Scotland, compared with 27.5% this time last week. While there were increases across all age groups, the biggest – of 161% – was in 20- to 24-year-olds.

She said that staffing shortages were already putting additional strain on health and emergency services, adding that 100 Scotrail services were cancelled on Sunday because of staff absence.

Sturgeon said that she was “acutely aware” that the latest restrictions, as well as the advice to avoid socialising, had significant financial implications for many businesses.

However, she questioned whether the latest announcement of a £1bn bailout package for UK businesses by the Treasury generated “new” money for Scotland, rather than being an advance allocation of money already budgeted for.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×