Hospitality firms urge Boris Johnson to stick to reopening roadmap
Some of the UK’s biggest hospitality companies have urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “stick” to the current plan for easing lockdown restrictions.
In an open letter the pub and restaurant bosses said two-thirds of venues were unable to open outdoors from 12 April and “none is breaking even”.
They called on the prime minister to maintain the schedule for indoor reopening on 17 May, saying the roadmap should not be “derailed” by talk of vaccine passports.
“We must be driven by data not dates – and the data say it is safe to confirm now the reopening of indoor hospitality on May 17 and the lifting of all social-distancing restrictions on hospitality on June 21,” the signatories wrote.
“This is vital as government support for hospitality tapers away then, and without it many businesses will be unviable.”
The letter, published in the Sunday Telegraph, was signed by the chief executives of companies including The Restaurant Group, JD Wetherspoon, Pizza Hut, Fuller’s and Alton Towers owner Merlin.
Pubs and restaurants were allowed to reopen for outdoor service last week and under current plans will be able to resume indoor dining from 17 May. The government hopes to lift all restrictions from 21 June.
Boris Johnson has insisted that the roadmap will be determined by “data not dates” and pub bosses maintain that the risk of transmission in hospitality venues is limited.
However, Public Health England’s Susan Hopkins warned two or three weeks of data was needed before the impact of pub reopenings could be determined.
“As we release restrictions and as people start moving around again, transmission can occur. So people still need to take precautions as they do that,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show. “We really hope the next step can take place as planned.”
Ministers are currently reviewing the potential use of vaccine passports for further reopening of hospitality venues.
Certificates would allow people to show they have been vaccinated, had a negative test or have immunity from an infection in the previous six months.
But the plans have sparked anger among hospitality bosses and opposition from more than 70 MPs.