PM tells pubs and restaurants: ‘Close your doors now...’
BOSSES OF LOCAL VENUES LEFT SHOCKED BY ANNOUNCEMENT
PRIME Minister Boris Johnson last night told pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants, among other venues, to shut down in a strengthening of measures to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
“The speed of our eventual recovery depends entirely on our collective ability to get on top of the virus now and that means we have to take the next steps on scientific advice,” he told the daily Covid-19 press conference.
“And following our plan we are strengthening the measures announced on Monday.
“We need now to push down further on that curve of transmission between us.
“And so following agreement with all the devolved administrations, we are collectively telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close and not to open.
“Though, to be clear, they can continue to provide take-out services.
“We’re also telling nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close on the same timescale.”
In addition, the Chancellor announced that “for the first time in our history” the Government will step in and help pay people’s wages through a Coronavirus job retention scheme.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak added he would defer the next quarter of VAT payments for firms, until the end of June, in a £30 billion injection into the economy.
The Chancellor said the Government will pick up “most of ” the wages of workers.
He added: “I have a responsibility to make sure that we protect, as far as possible, people’s jobs and incomes.
“I can announce that in the first time of our history, the Government is going to step in and help pay people’s wages.
“We’re setting up a new Coronavirus job retention scheme. Any employer in the country small or large, charitable or non-profit, will be eligible for the scheme.
“Employers will be able to contact
HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wages of people who are not working but are furloughed and kept on payroll rather than being laid off.
“Government grants will cover 80% of the salary of retained workers up to a total of £2,500 a month - that’s just above the median income.”
The Chancellor increased the Universal Credit standard allowance for the next 12 months by £1,000 a year, and increased the working tax credit basic element by the same sum.
“Together these measures will benefit over four million of our most vulnerable households,” he said.
Ahead of the welfare announcements, Mr Sunak said: “We’re starting a great national effort to protect jobs but the truth is we are already seeing job losses and there may be more to come.
“I cannot promise you that no one will face hardship in the weeks ahead.”
Asked whether further measures could include potentially limiting transport and the movement of people around the country, Mr Johnson said that the Government does not want to immobilise major transport networks.
He said: “Transport is fundamental to our ability to deliver vital public services.
“I was pretty clear that we don’t want, for instance, to immobilise the Tube or our major transport networks.
“It’s just too important for the delivery of crucial public services.”
It’ll be a Mothering Sunday with a difference across Huddersfield tomorrow, as families who normally come together are forced to celebrate alone.
While florists reported a busy trade, many of the pubs and restau