Campaign for Pubs, the grassroots UK membership organisation campaigning to support, promote and protect British pubs, has been reacting to the the Prime Minister’s announcement on the post-lockdown ‘roadmap.
Greg Mulholland, Campaign Director of the Campaign for Pubs, said: “Despite this being the third lockdown and with pubs having been closed for such a huge proportion of the last year, the Government has still not given any certainty for publicans as to when they may be able to finally, properly open their pubs again, which is disastrous for their businesses but also for mental health.
“We all accept the need to control the spread of Covid until vaccinations reach a certain level, but the Government keeps moving the goalposts and its pubs that are being hardest hit by that. It’s disappointing that today’s announcement was made without any indication of what further support will be provided for pubs to get them through this crisis. The Chancellor must announce this as soon as possible and before the Budget and it must be adequate or there will be many publicans who just won’t be able to continue racking up debts and pubs will start to close”.
Meanwhile Dawn Hopkins, Vice Chair of the Campaign for Pubs & a Norwich publican, said: “Publicans are dismayed that yet again this Government doesn’t seem to understand the reality of desperate situation for so many publicans, with months without income and for many, mounting debt. Outdoor opening is simply not viable for the vast majority of pubs, so grants must be continued until pubs can open properly again, indoors and without unnecessary rules.
“The Government needs to urgently announce a proper package of support to get pubs through this crisis, or it will go down in history as the Government that destroyed the Great British Pub.”