Pubs and restaurants in England to have 10pm closing times

[dutchman]

All pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues in England must have a 22:00 BST closing time from Thursday, to help curb the spread of coronavirus



The sector will also be restricted by law to table service only.

The measures will be set out by the prime minister in Parliament before an address to the nation to be broadcast live at 20:00 on Tuesday.

It comes as the UK's Covid-19 alert level moves to 4, meaning transmission is "high or rising exponentially".

The government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance warned there could be 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day by mid-October without further action - which, he said, could lead to more than 200 deaths per day by mid-November.

On Monday, a further 4,368 daily cases and 11 deaths were reported in the UK. There were 3,899 cases reported on Sunday.

Speaking about the new closing times, a No 10 spokesperson said: "No-one underestimates the challenges the new measures will pose to many individuals and businesses.

"We know this won't be easy, but we must take further action to control the resurgence in cases of the virus and protect the NHS."

Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the move "seems to have emerged from a random policy generator" and called on the government to publish the evidence upon which it was based.

"While mandatory table service has been part of the successful Swedish approach and may have merit, the new closing time will be devastating to a hospitality sector that was already suffering after the first lockdown," he said.

New measures will also come into force in Lancashire, Merseyside, parts of the Midlands and West Yorkshire from Tuesday.

The prime minister's announcement on closing times comes after a series of meetings over the weekend, including with the government's chief medical adviser Prof Chris Whitty, Chancellor Rishi Sunk and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

[rebbonk]

And at 10:15 mayhem will ensue at all the kebab shops!

Bozo really hasn't got a clue.