Clwyd West AM Darren Millar has hit out at the BBC for misleading people in Wales into thinking it is acceptable to drive to the countryside to undertake a walk as part of the daily exercise permitted during the current lockdown.
Darren has written to the broadcaster to complain about a recent Radio Wales bulletin which included reference to new guidance issued to the police in England regarding the enforcement of the coronavirus restrictions. It was reported that the guidance suggested that it is acceptable to drive to the countryside to undertake a walk as part of the daily exercise permitted during the current lockdown.
Darren said the broadcast caused unnecessary confusion and anxiety to many listeners in rural parts of North Wales to the extent that North Wales Police had to issue a tweet to clarify the situation.
Writing to the BBC on the day of the broadcast (April 16th), he said:
“As you will know, there have been significant efforts here in Wales to discourage non-essential travel and this has been, for the most part, successful in achieving its aims. This has included actively discouraging people not to drive from their homes to access their daily exercise. It is regrettable that the BBC Radio Wales news broadcast today has undermined these efforts.
“I have no idea why it was deemed to be appropriate to broadcast news which was only relevant to England but the result of this has been confusion for a number of my constituents living in rural parts of Clwyd West who have contacted my office to expressed concern about the broadcast.
“I would be most grateful if you could investigate why such an inappropriate report was included in the news bulletin and advise as to what action the BBC intends to take to ensure that reports which have the ability to confuse the important public health messages which we all have a duty to convey are not confused or undermined in the future.”
Darren, who last month called on the Welsh Government to consider closing some rural footpaths during the Covid-19 crisis, added:
“It was incredibly irresponsible of the BBC to broadcast this misleading news at time when people need clear guidance more than ever and I am pleased that in their response they agreed that there should have been additional clarity around the fact that there had been no change to the police guidance in Wales. I hope that similar errors will be avoided in the future.”