On Tuesday 20 October Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Greater Manchester will go into tier 3 restrictions with most pubs and bars expected to close and extra restrictions on household mixing. Earlier, London had been placed under tier 2 lockdown restrictions and the Welsh government announced a short, sharp national lockdown until 9 November. The Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham has warned the government that failure to agree to a £65m financial package of support will mean a winter of hardship with increased levels of poverty and homelessness for Greater Manchester if tier three measures are imposed.
The chaos around the tier system of lockdown rules for different regions has fragmented the UK in the worst North-South divide that the Union has possibly witnessed in its history. But beyond the confusion, it has crippled an already
paralysed hospitality industry.
Frustrated with the back and forth between the local and national leaders, Manish Mahipal of Wah Ji Wah Restaurant, Manchester said, "This is going to be devastating for the hospitality industry and their associated livelihoods. If the government thinks lockdown is the solution then they should come up with some sort of support package for the employers and employees. There is no point of opening the business with not enough customers, 10 o’clock is not helping at all. People are working from home and don’t want to come to town as there is risk of infection."
Earlier on Monday, as many as 600 employees from the hospitality industry had staged a protest shaking their pots and pans in Parliament Square, which called on Boris Johnson to U-turn on the curfew and the Tier 2 restrictions relevant to restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs and hotels. Employees had also vowed that the protest would happen again if the government didn't reverse recent restrictions imposed on the hospitality industry. The rally comes as
UKHospitality, a trade union association representing the sector, warned that over 750,000 jobs could be lost in the coming months due to the curbs put on the work of hospitality venues.
The UKHospitality chief Kate Nicholls stood shoulder to shoulder in support of those protesting. She had earlier warned Tier 2 implementation, which prohibits different households dining or drinking indoors together, would mean 200,000 workers were likely to lose their jobs almost immediately. As part of Tier 2 restrictions, restaurants are allowed to remain open but will not be eligible for government support as they would be under a Tier 3 lockdown. But they face a far more limited customer base than under Tier 1, which allows households to mix indoors.
Earlier last week, a group of Michelin chefs urged the government for the appointment of a hospitality minister to defend their interests during the pandemic. According to their online petition which has gained over 32,000 signatures, “The UK hospitality industry is responsible for around 3 million jobs and generating £130bn in activity, resulting in £38bn in taxation. Yet, unlike the Arts or Sports, we do not have a dedicated Minister. We are asking that a Minister for Hospitality be created for the current, and successive governments.
Jitin Joshi, Executive Chef at Gymkhana in Mayfair, London and one of the signatories of the petition said, “A hospitality minister would have known about the minute operations of the industry and shared his insights with the government which would have in turn enabled better decisions.
“There is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that 10PM curfews are helping to curb coronavirus. In my view, all customers start leaving by 10 in the evening. So, all the social distancing regulations that we have implemented indoors are a waste if they are all leaving together. For customers who are availing public transport there is concern about overcrowding and those who can drive in are faced with increased parking charges and would rather order in a takeaway. The 10 pm curfew just doesn’t make sense.
“Festive season is just round the corner but corporate and social dinners are cancelled. Ideally by this time we would be refusing bookings owing to overwhelming number of reservations. But there is so much of chaos around new curfew rules, the Tier system of lockdown that we just don’t know if and when we are going to make up for loses.
Lord Karan Bilimoria, President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has also stressed that the government had failed to provide any scientific evidence to support the decision to impose a 10pm curfew on pubs, bars and restaurants, as the hospitality industry continues to contend that the rate of coronavirus infection in its outlets remains low.
In a statement to Herald Scotland, he said, “If you look at the Germans, for example, they have extended their furlough scheme all the way to the end of next year, and theirs is even linked to families. We have to try and save these businesses, save these jobs. The British Beer & Pub Association have said if we do not act, we are looking at 12,000 pubs closing down, with the loss of 291,000 jobs. We cannot have that happening.”
(Additional reporting by Shefali Saxena)
