William fears for UK mental health amid virus curbs
BRITAIN may be heading for a ‘mental health catastrophe’ if people cannot socialise due to Covid restrictions, Prince William said yesterday.
The Duke of Cambridge spoke of his fears as he talked to business owners in Liverpool, days after the city was forced into the toughest Tier Three curbs.
During a video call with entrepreneurs, the royal discussed the challenges the hospitality industry is facing.
It came as around 300 workers, from chefs to events organisers, protested outside Parliament to demand extra financial support.
Hopes of a high street revival have been dashed by a slump in shoppers and pubgoers on the back of new lockdowns and curfews. Footfall across the country was down by 3.1 per cent last week.
Prince William yesterday spoke to Liverpool venue boss Natalie Haywood and nightclub DJ Yousef. Miss Haywood, who has already been forced to make 40 redundancies from her staff of 200, said: ‘William was extremely empathetic to our situation and really wanted to listen to what is actually happening on the ground.
‘He was very focused on the wellbeing of things and spoke of the mental health catastrophe Britain will face if people aren’t allowed to experience social aspects of their lives. Yousef told him that music, socialising and being with friends is absolutely central to dealing with people’s mental health and William absolutely agreed with that.’
Firms forced to close in areas under Tier Three are able to use the new Job Support Scheme, which will pay two-thirds of the wages of staff unable to work.
But financial support is much lower in Tier Two.
Miss Haywood said: ‘ William agreed that we won’t really see the true effects of the virus for many months but was encouraged that businesses are pulling together by trying to help one another.
‘The problem for a lot of businesses is being strangled by being in Tier Two and people not being sure or able to get out and socialise, but they are being told to stay open with no support – this will be absolutely catastrophic.’
A royal aide said the issue of mental health was ‘always at the forefront’ of William and Kate’s minds.
Asked what prompted William’s call, they explained: ‘It’s clear that different parts of the country are feeling the effects in different ways.
‘The duke has been spending a great deal of time speaking to, and where he can, meeting communities across the country that have been affected. The mental health of the nation is always a priority. And it will only be in the coming months that we see how acutely this is being affected by what is happening.’
Retail industry leaders are warning of a total of 255,000 job losses by the end of this year. Separately, the hospitality industry has raised the grim prospect of 750,000 job losses across pubs, restaurants and hotels by February next year. Shopping trips and bar or restaurant visits are down by around a third on a year ago and the situation is particularly bad in cities.
Renowned restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi, who was at the Westminster protest, said: ‘I don’t think hospitality has been proven to have spread corona. If it has, then shut us all down and give us furlough again, because otherwise you are killing really good businesses.’
The controversial decision to impose a 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants cut footfall after 6pm by an average of 4.5 per cent, which compares to a smaller decrease of 2.4 per cent during the day.
Alarmingly, the footfall in central London has collapsed by 60 per cent compared with 2019. The decline in regional cities is around 50 per cent, according to experts at Springboard, which promotes the hospitality industry.
It confirms the ‘ghost town’ status of many once thriving cities.
Chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, Michael Kill, said: ‘It’s been horrendous. We are going to see some catastrophic results in terms of businesses deciding to close.’
‘Pulling together trying to help’