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New post-lockdown hospitality restrictions will destroy us all, desperate pubs warn PM

The tough new regional tier system will be a 'death sentence' for thousands of pubs and restaurants, critics said last night.

The warning came after Boris Johnson announced tighter restrictions on the hospitality sector when the lockdown ends.

Venues in Tier Two will able to serve alcohol only with a substantial meal and in Tier Three, pubs and restaurants will have to shut and can offer only takeaways and deliveries.

The British Beer and Pub Association said the limits would 'destroy our sector' while pub chains complained of being singled out. The limits were also criticised by Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank.

He said: 'The Government has decided to lay waste to thousands of pubs by requiring a 'substantial meal' to be served. There is no scientific basis for this.

'Mr Johnson describes the bankruptcies and unemployment that will result as 'unavoidable hardship'. On the contrary, they are the wholly avoidable outcome of a deliberate political choice.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new tiered structure on Monday that would replace current English restrictions when lockdown ends on December 2

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new tiered structure on Monday that would replace current English restrictions when lockdown ends on December 2

'In effect, the Tier Two restrictions are a death sentence for countless pubs and restaurants.'

The Prime Minister also told MPs the unpopular curfew would be relaxed. Before lockdown, pubs had to close at 10pm, leading to many customers leaving at the same time. From next week, pubs will call last orders at 10pm and shut their doors by 11pm, allowing more staggered departure times.

In Tier One, venues will open with table service only. The rule of six will apply indoors and outdoors. In Tier Two, pubs can open only if customers can be served substantial meals.

No household mixing will be allowed indoors, with the exception of business meetings.

Pedestrians walk past a closed pub during on Tottenham Court Road, London, during England's second national coronavirus lockdown

Pedestrians walk past a closed pub during on Tottenham Court Road, London, during England's second national coronavirus lockdown 

Friends from different households can meet outside, as long as they obey the rule of six. In Tier Three, pubs and restaurants must shut but can sell food and drink by takeaway, click and collect, drive through and delivery. 

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: 'The additional restrictions will destroy our sector if they go ahead as proposed.

'In Tier Two alone, the new restrictions will mean 90 per cent of pubs will be unviable and will only be able to operate at a loss.'

Jonathan Neame, chief executive of the Shepherd Neame pub group, said: 'It is absolutely rotten they have singled out hospitality in this way. It makes me sick.

'To open new sectors again while imposing stricter measures on hospitality is maddening. We are dealing with real lives in a sector that employs three million people and we are being pushed aside.'

Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King, said: 'We've invested millions of pounds to make our pubs safe but today it feels like pubs have been unfairly singled out once again.'

Nik Antona, national chairman of real ale group CAMRA, said pubs were 'offered up as a sacrificial lamb without any evidence or explanation as to why they are being treated more harshly than shops and gyms'.

I thought Boris Johnson was looking out for landlords like me… but not any more, says ADAM BROOKS 

Just when we pub landlords were hoping a busy Christmas might salvage our industry following a succession of crippling restrictions, it transpired yesterday that once again we are being thrown to the wolves for no good scientific reason.

Yes, the second lockdown may be coming to an end. But Boris Johnson's grim new tier system will only increase our costs while simultaneously reducing our takings.

For a sector that is already on life support, this is a lethal combination which will force thousands of pubs and restaurants into permanent closure.

The tragedy is that none of this seems necessary. Like the vast majority of publicans, I acted swiftly and responsibly when restrictions were first put in place.

I run The Three Colts and The Owl pubs in Essex and I spent roughly £3,000 fitting them out with hand sanitisers, screens and new signage.

I hired a private contractor to conduct a health and safety inspection and confirm we were 'Covid secure'.

Pub landlord Adam Brooks runs The Three Colts and The Owl pubs in Essex spent roughly £3,000 fitting them out with hand sanitisers, screens and new signage to comply with coronavirus restrictions. He said coronavirus restrictions intended to replace the English lockdown are too harsh on pubs [File photo]

Pub landlord Adam Brooks runs The Three Colts and The Owl pubs in Essex spent roughly £3,000 fitting them out with hand sanitisers, screens and new signage to comply with coronavirus restrictions. He said coronavirus restrictions intended to replace the English lockdown are too harsh on pubs File

The situation was far from ideal. But we in the hospitality trade rallied around and showed good faith. All of which makes the Government's latest restrictions feel like a kick in the shins.

What makes the current situation even worse is that, historically, the Conservative Party has been viewed as an ally to the brewers and the licensed trade.

After all, there is a widespread recognition that a well-run pub is often the hub of a community. Yet a quick glance at the new rules suggests that our current rule-makers have never actually been in a pub.

Take, for example, the so-called concession of allowing pubs and restaurants to stay open until 11pm - an hour more than before.

That may sound generous, but it is anything but. For if you read the small print, it emerges that last orders must be made by 10pm, which means that pubs, already fighting to stay in business, will have to pay an extra hour's staffing costs without being able to take any orders. Meanwhile, those in Tier Two areas - where pubs can only serve alcohol with a substantial meal - will struggle to do any serious business.

The potential earnings are too meagre to justify the bother and costs - especially for what we in the trade call 'wet-led pubs', which survive on drink sales and will have to staff their kitchens round the clock to make sure they can serve food that many customers will not even want to eat.

And as for those pubs in Tier Three areas - where they can only serve takeaway items - they might as well shut up shop.

Rather than come up with increasingly nonsensical measures, it would be far better, and ultimately safer, to allow publicans to take responsibility for ensuring their customers do not recklessly infect others. I employ about 30 staff in my two pubs, all of them on furlough now.

But before the lockdown, they took proper precautions with masks and hand washing, and not one of them fell ill.

Nor did we hear from Test and Trace that any of our customers became infected. Of course, I understand that scientists have every right to be concerned about perceived risks. But ultimately we vote for politicians to rationally decide that some level of risk has to be tolerated to keep the economy running. In last year's election, I enthusiastically voted for Boris Johnson, and I was initially grateful for the business support measures rushed into force.

I was fortunate to secure two bounce-back loans, and have also been lucky that the brewers that my pubs are tied to were flexible with rental payments.

But after the false dawn of supposedly lifting the lockdown in time for Christmas, I feel politically homeless, abandoned by a party which seems to have subcontracted the running of the country to a committee of scientists.

And let me put this bluntly: if Mr Johnson can no longer rely on the support of a pub landlord in Essex, then there is trouble ahead for the Conservative Party.

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