Different health and farming policies create “real problems” for people who live on the border between England Wales, the Bishop of Hereford has warned.
Bishop Anthony Priddis, whose diocese includes several parishes in Wales, raised the issue at question time in the House of Lords as Government minister Lord Wallace of Tankerness was being quizzed by peers.
He asked Lord Wallace: “Will you give an assurance that, as Welsh responsibility in areas such as health are looked at, greater attention will be paid to the implications for cross-border issues, where a divergence of policy – for example, on the health service, on farming or on so many other issues – can create real problems and potential conflicts for those who live on the border between England and Wales?”
Lord Wallace, who is advocate general for Scotland, said he was “acutely aware that there are many cross-border issues, not least in the health service, with people living in certain parts of Wales going to hospitals in England”.