It is time ministers got their round in

When the pandemic finally passes, which it will eventually, it is safe to say that everyone is going to want a stiff drink. And what better place to enjoy one than in the pub with friends or family? That’s if there are any watering holes left.

The pub industry is one of Covid’s biggest casualties. You only have to listen to some of those at the top to get a sense of real despair, even panic in some quarters.

After turnover crashed by two thirds, and it swung to a pre-tax loss of £21.8m from a profit of £24m, the boss of Young’s claimed this week that the last few months had been among the hardest since it was founded nearly two centuries ago.

Tim Martin, Wetherspoon’s chairman, has been pulling out his hair (and there’s plenty of it) at the damage that government-imposed restrictions have wrought on a corner of the economy already struggling. Independent operators might point out that the ‘Spoons model has contributed to the demise of smaller pubs. But in Martin they have a fearsome and fearless cheerleader for the sector, as well as its biggest employer by some stretch. The latest data underline the current crisis.

The lifting of lockdown was supposed to trigger an immediate rejuvenation as pubs scrambled to become Covid-safe. With the drip-drip of further stifling measures, the opposite has happened.

August sales were 12pc below where they were the previous year; September registered a 20pc fall; and in October, trading crashed by a third, following the introduction of the tier system, according to analysts CGA.

Publicans are particularly aggrieved at government policy. “Baffling and confusing” was Martin’s verdict and there is a definite sense that the industry has suffered disproportionately on the basis of flimsy, if not non-existent, science.

The 10pm curfew was never really explained. All it did was cause a mad rush for the door at closing time and encourage people to socialise at home.

The effectiveness of table service and mask-wearing when not seated is questionable, and only discourages people further from popping to the pub. A second lockdown threatens to be the nail in the coffin for many.

There is an obvious economic cost to the wholesale closure of pubs up and down the country, which is fairly easy to quantify, but a big social and cultural cost too, which is harder to measure.

There are parallels with bank branches, whose disappearance can have a devastating impact on communities.

Pubs are equally vital to local areas, if not more so. They bring people together, help to counter loneliness and create a sense of togetherness that is already being eroded by the demise of the high street.

Rip out pubs and you also tear out the beating heart of many towns and villages.

Yet, there seems to be a sniffiness from ministers. Perhaps it is hard to quantify the true value of pubs, or it could be that the proliferation of sanitised, corporatised chains has eroded their worth. Maybe it’s just old-fashioned snobbery from an out-of-touch elite.

But it is certainly hypocrisy. Politicians on the campaign trail love nothing more than playing the “everyman” by posing for a photograph while pulling or supping a pint. The Prime Minister has enough to fill a whole album.

So, where’s the support when it is needed most? Without a pick-me-up, the pandemic could be the death knell for a great British institution.

Dark day for regulators

‘Rip out pubs and you also tear out the beating heart of many towns and villages’

The Financial Conduct Authority’s long-awaited report into the collapse of Carillion is damning.

Directors gave “misleading statements” about the company’s deteriorating finances; were aware they were worsening; and yet failed to notify the board, it has found.

The regulator’s proposed punishment for what it describes as “acting recklessly”?

Public censure rather than a financial penalty for a bankruptcy that cost thousands of jobs and destroyed the savings of many others.

After the Woodford debacle, the mini-bonds fiasco and now its supine response to Carillion’s meltdown, faith in the FCA is ebbing away.

Meanwhile, common sense has prevailed after the Competition and Markets Authority’s decision to block a merger of JD Sports and much smaller rival Footasylum was overturned.

An appeals tribunal ruled its research wasn’t up to scratch. A rotten day for regulators tasked with protecting the interests of consumers.