The news, broken this morning by The Times, that the bars within the House of Commons were exempt from the 10pm hospitality curfew because they are “workplace canteens” was greeted with disbelief and fury by many in the industry.
Not only did it emphasise the unwelcome idea that it’s ‘one rule for them, one rule for us’, but it raised a serious question: if restaurants serve their team a staff meal, doesn’t that make them “workplace canteens”? The deafening roar of “unfair” made them perform a U-turn within a few hours.
As outlined in this morning CODE Bulletin (to which you can subscribe here), the lack of impact assessment by the government or its Sage consultants on the effects of the 10p curfew must mean that calls for an inquiry and possible reversal of the curfew are legitimate.
Meanwhile over the weekend, two newspapers ran features on the joy of eating out early – you can read Marina O’Loughlin in the Sunday Times here and Sue Quinn in the Sunday Telegraph here – these are welcome voices encouraging the public to continue using restaurants. It’s worth reminding ourselves, and others, that Public Health England statistics continue to show 3% or lower instances of COVID outbreaks in hospitality institutions (see graphic).
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