Mayor of London calls for more support following delay to easing of lockdown

The news was described as a "devastating blow" for the night-time industry.

Author: Alice YoungPublished 15th Jun 2021

The Mayor of London is among those calling for extra finacial support for businesses impacted by the delay to the easing of coronavirus restrictions in England.

It comes as there is a warning the delay could create "further economic casualties" unless more help is provided for struggling industries.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced the postponement of step four of his roadmap, until the 19th July because of the Delta - or Indian - coronavirus variant.

The news was described as a "devastating blow" for the night-time industry, while hospitality businesses will also see trading impacted by continued social distancing.

Experts feared going ahead with Step 4 on June 21 as anticipated could lead to hospital admissions on the scale of the first wave of Covid-19, heaping unsustainable pressure on the health service.

To avert this, Mr Johnson said during a Downing Street press conference that it is "sensible to wait just a little longer" as he put back the end of all legal limits on social contact by a month.

The Night Time Industries Association said the delay would "drive confidence in the sector to a new low", while pub bosses warned the delay would cost the sector £400 million.

Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire of Trafalgar Entertainment said the announcement was a "catastrophe" for the theatre, music and live entertainment sector, adding:

"This delay is yet another bungle from a government that wouldn't be given a single star in a review of its performance. The confusion and muddled messages are reminiscent of a West End farce."

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said:

“Many of our businesses are already struggling for survival, and the announcement today will add to their worry and anxiety.

"The planned reduction in financial support at the end of June could now have dire consequences for jobs and livelihoods, pushing more businesses in sectors such as culture, nightlife and hospitality to the brink of collapse.

“The Government must now act urgently to extend economic support to all businesses who need it – including extending the full business rates holiday, the evictions moratorium and the existing furlough scheme until all restrictions are lifted.

“It’s also important that ministers continue to accelerate the rollout of the vaccines so that restrictions can be lifted as soon as possible.

"Every person who gets the vaccine and continues to follow the rules will take us a step closer to the full re-opening we all desperately want to see.”

Boris Johnson was asked at a Downing Street press conference if there could be a situation where there might be an extension of support to businesses.

He said:

"We always made sure that the furlough scheme would continue until September to take account of the whole spread of the road map. The Chancellor has always been very, very clear about that."

He added:

"On the basis of what we can see now ... in the data, on the basis of the vaccine effectiveness that we can see now, we don't think that we'll need to change that."

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