NOSE BAGS FOR LIFE

SOME people queued for up to three hours yesterday to take advantage of the last knockings of Dishi Rishi’s Pig Out To Help Out deal.

Restaurants, pubs and cafes were besieged by punters determined to save a tenner while stocks lasted.

There’s no doubt the scheme has been successful in kick-starting the hospitality sector, which suffered badly during lockdown. It’s great news that cut-price meals will continue thanks to the Mail’s 2-for-1 offer and similar deals subsidised by restaurant chains themselves.

In the scheme of things, the £500 million it cost taxpayers turned out to be money well spent. But faced with a £2 trillion deficit, and counting, Sunak can’t afford to keep picking up the bill any longer. And let’s hope most of those who’ve taken full advantage of the deal every day will continue to patronise those eateries when prices go back to normal. Don’t bet on it.

I can’t help wondering, too, how many of those millions queuing to get into restaurants yesterday will be back at work today. Or will they still pretend to be too frightened to return to their offices?

Here’s a plan. Maybe someone should design a new-style face mask, modelled on those nosebags used to feed horses. Then bargain-hunting burger enthusiasts could fill ’em up with fast food and chomp away merrily while strictly observing Covid safety protocols.

Chips could be shovelled directly into the masks, saving on litter.

And if Dishi wants to recoup that £500 million he could introduce a £10 levy and issue diners with a Nosebag For Life.