'Pubs scapegoated' says Chairman of Scarborough Campaign for Real Ale
Stewart Campbell also says the hospitality industry has been hit every time the Government changes the Coronavirus regulations.
The hospitality industry in Scarborough has been hit every time the Government changes the Coronavirus regulations.
That is from Stewart Campbell, who is Chairman of the town's branch of the Campaign for Real Ale.
He has been reacting to the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown which was set out earlier this week.
It will see no earlier than the 12th of April outdoor areas of pubs, like beer gardens, be allowed to re-open, with indoor hospitality mid-May and everything else in June at the earliest.
Stewart said:
"My view is that the pubs have been basically scapegoated and the hospitality industry as a whole has been treated poorly by the Government. They keep quoting that 'we're using science and the evidence' but the evidence shows that only 3% of transmissions is due to hospitality.
"A lot of pubs spent a lot of money making them Covid-secure, the Government then introduced 'Eat Out to Help Out' and then as soon as the schools, colleges and universities re-opened in mid-September, the infection rates spiked and pubs were blamed for it, despite the fact that it had been flatlined all the way through the summer.
"We have a situation where pubs will only be allowed to open if they have a beer garden. The vast majority of pubs don't have beer gardens and the number of people who can get in to a lot of the gardens is minimal, so even if they're allowed to open a lot of them can't open because it's not financially viable.
"Every time the regulations have changed, there's been an extra hit on hospitality. First of all, they had to have a substantial meal, then takeaways were not allowed from pubs and there were even talks that they were going to allow the opening of pubs, but with no alcohol being sold - well that doesn't make a pub.
"Most of the pubs have been closed since the 4th of November and it's very difficult to work out whether the licensees are still there or whether they've given their keys back. I haven't heard of any permanent closures as such so far but it's just a very difficult situation.