40% of Scots think English tourists should quarantine, survey finds
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wears a face mask during her visit to the field hospital the NHS Louisa Jordan(Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) - Credit: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Four in ten Scots believe tourists from England should have to quarantine when travelling to their country, a new poll has found.
The YouGov poll, which asked 1,134 Scots their view on tourists entering from other countries without needing to quarantine, reported 47% of those quizzed support English tourists isolating upon entry.
Research also revealed significant discrepancy along political lines when Scots were asked whether they support or oppose allowing tourists into the country.
More than half (54%) of SNP voters surveyed said they do not want English tourists to cross the border without quarantining, compared to 37% of Scottish Labour voters and 19% of those who voted for the Scottish Conservatives at the 2019 election.
Just over a third (34%) of SNP voters support the current system of allowing English tourists in without requiring them to quarantine as opposed to 49% of Labour voters and 65% of Tory voters.
You may also want to watch:
Independence-supporting Yes voters from 2014 oppose letting in English tourists by 52% to 36% while No voters support allowing English tourists into Scotland by 55% to 30%.
The poll was carried out a week after Scottish independence campaigners staged a protest at the border calling for people from England to be banned from entering or to impose a mandatory quarantine period.
Most Read
- 1 Susanna Reid takes on Priti Patel over government's gaslighting of public on coronavirus
- 2 Tory minister admits UK rejected EU's music visa offer in order to 'take back control' of borders
- 3 Brexiteer musician accused of hypocrisy after demanding No 10 help bands with EU visa
- 4 PMQs: Ben Bradshaw calls out Boris Johnson over Brexit lies
- 5 ‘Don’t haste ye back’ - Nicola Sturgeon's perfect farewell message to Donald Trump
- 6 Piers Morgan calls on Priti Patel to resign over missing crime records fiasco
- 7 Tory MPs vote down Lords bid to protect NHS from post-Brexit trade deals
- 8 9 of the best tweets of Donald Trump leaving the White House
- 9 Boris Johnson narrowly avoids defeat over vote on trade deals with genocidal regimes
- 10 Priti Patel fails to appear in Commons to answer questions on missing police records
Scots are less likely to object to visitors from other parts of the UK, with 29% opposed to people coming from Wales and 28% of respondents wanting to block tourists from Northern Ireland. In contrast, 56% support allowing unrestricted access to Scotland from the two countries.
Support for tourists from the Republic of Ireland also outweighs opposition, by 53% to 31%.
Visitors from further afield are less welcome, the survey suggests, with more opposition than support for allowing unrestricted travel for Danish, Swedish, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and American tourists.
Just 10% support allowing American tourists into Scotland without having to quarantine, contrasted with 81% against the idea.
Welsh people are slightly more willing than Scots to accept travellers from the rest of the British Isles, with 37% wanting English tourists to stay away compared to 50% who would welcome them.
The survey also looked at whether Scots and Welsh people would be willing to cross any borders – internal and international – for a summer holiday this year.
Few Scots would consider going to England (36%) or Wales (32%) on holiday this year.
Welsh people are more willing to cross nearby borders: 49% are open to going to England and 43% might travel up to Scotland. Willingness to travel further afield plummets by comparison. Among both national groups, only 10% and 12% respectively would be willing to visit any of the countries in continental Europe that YouGov asked about.
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.