BEER GARDENS MAY OPEN THIS MONTH
Boris in bid to fast-track pubs’ return amid warning of 3m lost jobs
‘We’re going to have no economy left’
PUB beer gardens could reopen this month under plans to save the hospitality industry from collapse.
Boris Johnson wants to fast-track the reopening of outdoor hospitality within weeks after being warned that 3.5 million jobs could be lost this summer if the sector remains locked down.
The Prime Minister is also under mounting pressure to halve the two-metre social distancing rule, which industry chiefs say is unworkable.
Mr Johnson will confirm this week that non- essential retail, such as clothing and shoe shops, department stores and electrical retailers, will be allowed to reopen from Monday, June 15. But government sources said the PM was also looking to accelerate the reopening of the hospitality sector, with outdoor venues such as beer gardens potentially allowed to restart this month.
‘The projections on job losses are pretty alarming,’ a source said. ‘There is a recognition that we need to get the economy moving, and it is possible that outdoor hospitality could get going again this month.
‘It is all conditional on the numbers moving in the right direction and the science saying it can be done safely. But outdoor hospitality – things like beer gardens – could happen quicker than people think.
Indoors is going to take longer.’ Ministers are planning to double the time pubs are allowed to erect marquees from 28 days to 56, making it easier for those with gardens to trade in poor weather.
In a further sign of the Government’s focus on the outdoors, where the risk of the virus spreading is much lower, ministers are set to shake up regulations for al fresco dining. Cafes and restaurants wanting to put out pavement tables and chairs currently need an ‘outdoor seating licence’ from their local authority, which can take weeks to approve. Ministers want to slash approval times and are considering axing the fee, which can be as much as £500 a year.
Plans are also being drawn up to allow small shops, where social distancing is difficult, to operate market- style stalls on the pavement outside. And Tory MPs are joining the hospitality sector in warning that there is little prospect of a recovery while the twometre rule remains.
France, Denmark and China all use a one-metre rule, while Germany, Australia and the Netherlands all use 1.5 metres.
Mr Johnson indicated last week that he was sympathetic to reducing the limit, but government scientists warn it is not safe.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the move was essential.
‘If we are going to get the economy fired up, we have to get hospitality open – the PM is right about that,’ he said. ‘But the two-metre rule simply does not work for pubs and restaurants – it doesn’t work for schools or public transport either, come to that.
‘Other countries operate with lower limits and the World Health Organisation says one metre is enough, so why are we persisting with it? The scientists are just covering their backs.
‘They have no understanding of the economy and no interest in it. The PM has to break free of this trap and ditch the two-metre rule, otherwise we are going to have no economy left.’
Under the Government’s ‘ road map’ for lifting the lockdown, the reopening of the hospitality sector is not due to be even considered before July 4. But the Prime Minister has been alarmed by warnings that the sector could collapse if it is unable to take advantage of summer trading and has asked ministers to accelerate the process.
At a meeting last week, Business Secretary Alok Sharma told Mr Johnson that up to 3.5 million jobs could be lost unless hospitality was allowed to reopen soon.
The Prime Minister is said to have responded with ‘Christ!’ He has ordered a group of ministers dubbed the ‘Save Summer Six’ to draw up detailed plans for allowing seasonal business to reopen.
Mr Sharma, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden are charged with removing the obstacles to the resumption of as much as possible of the tourism and hospitality sectors well before the school holidays. The push to rescue the economy has left Health Secretary Matt Hancock as the leading advocate of maintaining the lockdown.
Mr Hancock yesterday insisted there was no ‘trade- off’ between the economy and health – and said the measures should stay in place for as long as needed to prevent a second wave of infections.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that he wanted to see the number of cases come ‘right down’ before a major relaxation.
He added: ‘People do ask me about the economy but my view is that the worse thing for the economy would be a second spike.’
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