Regulations will rob ailing pubs and venues of £7.8bn bonanza TIER CHAOS
PM says tough rules could end on Feb 3 to quell revolt Fears that rates still too high and we risk third wave
PUBS and businesses could miss out on £7.8billion of post-lockdown takings as a result of the tougher tier restrictions coming into force.
Research by jobs site Caterer.co.uk found that pent-up demand could have delivered a £15.9billion boost to the hospitality sector.
But the new tier rules mean 98% of businesses in England will not be able to trade as normal – at a cost of £7.8billion, the analysis found.
In the survey of more than 2,000 people, one in four said they had been planning to spend more than usual in venues – estimating they would have spent an average of £303 in venues, which would have equated to £15.9billion.
Spokesman Neil Pattison said: “The impact of the tighter tiered system will not only lead to a multi-billion pound loss for the sector but could force many thousands of our talented workforce to look elsewhere for work.”
The founder of Punch Taverns, Hugh Osmond, has accused PM Boris Johnson of living in “an ivory tower” over the tier rulings.
He said: “If he destroys the hospitality and retail industries, the biggest employers of young people, the biggest offerers of entry-level jobs… there will be extensive misery, more health problems, suicides, deaths and a much worse economy than he could imagine.”
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who took issue with the Government’s old tier system, wrote in a letter to MPs: “It simply cannot be right or fair that Tier 1 Cornwall and the Isle of Wight are receiving the same level of business support as Manchester, Leeds and Hull.”
publish data today on the lockdown’s economic impact, which had been demanded by MPs.
The PM could be forced to rely on Labour votes to approve his plan tomorrow if enough of his own MPs desert him. Labour will decide today whether to back it but Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy said they “do not share the view of Tory backbenchers that you can just let the virus rip”. However she warned that Labour’s support for tiers is “not unconditional”.
Swathes of the North and Midlands will be plunged into the toughest Tier 3 restrictions this week. Only the Scilly Isles, Cornwall and the Isle of Wight will be in the lowest Tier 1 category.
Places with the toughest restrictions were offered a glimmer of hope as the PM said the tiers would be reviewed on December 16, leaving it open for some areas to move to lighter restrictions on December 19.
An analysis by the Sunday Times revealed 16.4 million people live in 88 boroughs in Tier 3 that have a
Covid-19 infection rate lower than some boroughs in Tier 2.
Meanwhi le, new Christmas guidance revealed that youngsters will still be able to meet Santa Claus.
Grottos will be allowed to open in shops, garden centres and department stores in all tiers but social distancing guidelines mean that children cannot sit on Santa’s knee.
More than 100 inmates were hit by Covid-19 in a day, in a mass outbreak at HMP Birmingham. A whistleblower blamed it on vending machines and showers not being sanitised properly.