Covid has called time on our pubs
I WISH to protest about the Government’s treatment of the pub and brewing industry. Five million pints of beer had to be poured away during the first lockdown, with small breweries only able to reclaim the duty. When pubs were forced to close for the second lockdown, the small breweries that supply them had to be mothballed without any government support. Production can’t be turned on or off like a switch. Pubs have been unfairly singled out when the Government’s figures show only 3 per cent of Covid cases have been traced to hospitality settings. There is better social distancing in pubs than in supermarkets. The hospitality industry has invested millions in Covid safety measures. The toughest restrictions will mean some small breweries and bars are facing ruin and will never reopen.
t. THOMPSON, Feltham, Middlesex.
BORIS Johnson informed us the virus doesn’t know it’s Christmas. However, it is intelligent enough to know if you are eating or not while sitting in a pub.
CARL HODGSON, Weaverham, cheshire.
PUBS and restaurants have spent thousands to protect staff and customers, so why are they being penalised? We are sociable animals and will thrive if we can meet our friends and family after months of seclusion. We accept numbers must be limited, we must not move from our tables and be socially distanced. Anyone would think these venues have been the hotbed of infection, but that patently isn’t so.
Jean Mcnamara, Greenhithe, Kent.
THE latest measures on pubs are impracticable and show a lack of understanding by the Government. The hospitality industry accounts for a tiny number of infections. It will be destroyed in lockdown areas.
Andy Sutcliffe, Alfreton, derbys.
BORIS the man who saved Christmas? Sorry, he’s the man who killed the British pub and finished off the Great British entrepreneur.
terry Caldon, thanet, Kent.
THE UK Government decision to extend the drinking-up time to 11pm reminds me of when I started going to the pub in the early 1960s and 10pm was last orders. In the summer, most agricultural counties extended this to 11pm so farm workers who had been working late to make the most of the daylight could enjoy a pint. Living on the border between Staffordshire and Shropshire, we would make a dash for an extra hour’s drinking, much to the disgust of Shropshire landlords.
John Pibworth, newport, Shropshire.