Letters - Tuesday October 6, 2020

The harsh 10pm curfew forced upon licensed premises by the government last week is counterproductive and will destroy an already financially weak industry.

I’m the first to admit that the Coronavirus pandemic should be taken seriously. I personally fall into the higher risk category and have cancelled presenting several indoor live music events this winter because of it. Until a vaccine is up and running, people of all ages need to do their bit collectively to help mitigate the virus. That said, what clear scientific evidence is there which proves the virus decides to spread amongst society after 10pm? Or if you meet in a group of seven?

It’s fair to assume that school children who mix and mingle with anything from 25-30 class mates five days a week, innocently bring home with them cross infections picked up from multiple households every single day.

It is well recognised that licensed premises operate on water tight profit margins. The social distancing measures already in place , reduce venue capacity which as a result ultimately decreases business turnover. The restricted trading hours (10pm curfew) are having a profound impact on the hospitality economy. Throwing everyone out on to the streets at 10pm, what practical good is that doing to promote social distancing - especially in town centres ? It’s as daft as dropping thousands of eggs from a helicopter and watching them break up and run all over the place!

I’m pleased that last week the speaker of the House of Commons, Mr Lindsay Hoyle, addressed the Prime Minister about his behind closed doors decision making without sufficient democratic consideration. Some of Boris Johnson’s cabinet, Eton School mates and Bullingdon Club chums have never had to work tough long hours in a pub or restaurant. Their impulsive and ill thought out decisions are crippling the hospitality industry. It’s not just the venues and employees who suffer but the whole supply chain from service providers, musicians to taxi drivers . It is estimated in a few weeks’ time 300,000 hospitality sector jobs could be lost or put at high risk.

Pub and restaurant workers, security staff and cleaners are amongst the lowest paid. They rely heavily on their regular weekly hours to make ends meet. The potential closure of several year round licensed premises (due to the 10pm curfew) means it is looking like a very bleak winter.

In my opinion, in recent weeks , the north of England has been treated unfairly as some kind of experimental strategic Covid case study in an attempt to trial and error the government’s poorly tuned instincts. In the pub business, it is footfall and the till that tells the tale, not theoretical statistics dreamt up by privileged public school boys who have never changed a barrel, waited on a table or pulled a pint in their entire lives.

Stephen Pierre

Campaign to cancel the 10pm curfew

Virus

Don’t blame the people

Re: From the Editor: Think of others – not just how this virus affects us (The Gazette, September 29).

You say responsibility to others, well, what about the responsibility to others with other medical conditions, not just those that may be affected by Covid?

There are people with mental health, cancer, COPD and heart problems. These are going untreated because people have been so frightened, they are not going to the doctors. They are missing hospital appointments.

The balance has become unbalanced.

Hundreds a day are losing their lives unnecessarily and something has to be done to stop this.

The second thing is regarding tests being in short supply here in Lancashire.

Only a few weeks ago we had the council urging people with symptoms to get a test, so now we have a shortage.

Talk about mismanagement. They have led us into this position and now we need tests, we don’t have enough.

They brought in the increased restrictions that haven’t worked so, rather than scrap them, they are now talking of more restrictions. Have they not learned anything?

Do they know nothing of human psychology or behaviour patterns?

People are sick and tired of being told what to do when they see the bad examples being demonstrated by Government.

They are tired of being controlled with no gains at all.

There has been totally inept management, both locally and centrally.

Don’t blame the people.

The Government gave us bribes to ‘eat out to help out’. Now it says it’s our fault that we did and talks of closing the venues again.

That won’t help and will, no doubt, lead to job losses, businesses closing for good and people losing their homes.

It’s beyond belief.

Now there is the banning of music, singing and dancing.

Well, how about banning horse racing, fox hunting, game shooting and other middle class sports, now studies are showing it’s actually the middle classes who are the worst for spreading the virus?

Dale W Green

via email

Virus

There’ll be enough to go round

Stockpiling groceries is not just carried out by people financially sound or the physically strong or people who have cars with large boots (I have seen plenty of taxis loaded up outside supermarkets).

It is a selfish act by all manner of people in all walks of life, probably by the same people who walk into supermarkets and do not sanitise their hands or wipe their trolley handles and refuse to wear a face covering and sneer at those who do.

The Government should come up with a regular reminder that if we all keep to our share, there will be enough to go around.

What a sad reflection on our society, though.

The culprits should be thoroughly ashamed.

However, I doubt that for fact!

Bridget Dyson

via email