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Pub bosses warn curfew means more job cuts

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Pub bosses have warned that plans to impose a curfew on hospitality venues will “devastate” the sector and decimate consumer confidence.

A 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants is set to be enforced by the Government from Thursday as part of new restrictions that Boris Johnson will say are needed to slow the rate of coronavirus infections.

Pubs will also be banned from serving customers at the bar with a blanket table-service only rule implemented.

The proposed measures have prompted a furious response from pub bosses, who claim there is no evidence linking the increase in coronavirus infections to socialising in bars and restaurants.

Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, called the new rules “utterly stupid”.

“We’ve done a good job at social distancing in pubs and so have most pubs and there’s hardly any infections being passed on in pubs,” he told Sky News.

“800 of our 861 pubs have had no infections whatsoever and another 40 have had one infection. If it was desperately infectious in pubs you wouldn’t get pubs with only one case.”

Simon Emeny, chief executive of Fuller’s, accused ministers of “singling out” the pub sector, warning that the latest restrictions would lead to more job losses.

It came as Wetherspoons revealed up to 450 jobs were at risk at its pubs in six airports, while Premier Inn owner Whitbread said it was cutting 6,000 jobs as the pandemic causes demand for hotel rooms to slump.

“Pubs can actually be part of the solution - they are not part of the problem,” Mr Emeny said. “It is a heavily regulated industry and we have successfully worked with the Government across the entire sector to put protocols in place to ensure that everyone is safe in pubs.”

He added that the introduction of a curfew will have an “enormous” impact on consumer confidence.

Five levels of Covid-19 alert
Five levels of Covid-19 alert

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pubs Association, urged the Government to move quickly and launch a support package to avoid the closure of thousands of pubs and loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“Make no mistake, a 10pm curfew will devastate our sector during an already challenging environment for pubs,” she said.

“We need an immediate sector specific furlough scheme to save the hundreds of thousands of jobs that pubs support, extended VAT cuts and business rates holiday and a substantial cut to the rate of beer duty in the Autumn Budget.”

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said a "rethink" was needed on the furlough scheme, which is due to conclude at the end of  October.

Some hospitality venues where it is more difficult to implement social distancing such as nightclubs and discos have been required by law to remain shut since March.

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said a curfew was a “devastating blow to the already beleaguered night-time economy”.

“This curfew will lead to the demise of many of our most beloved cultural and entertainment venues,” he said.

“As a result of this measure, we foresee a surge of unregulated events and house parties which are the real hotbeds of infection, attended by frustrated young people denied access to safe and legitimate night-time hospitality venues.”