Boris Johnson confirms pubs and restaurants will not open before 4 July
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that pubs and restaurants will not reopen fully before 4 July.
Johnson told MPs today that the government would follow its original plan to open the hospitality sector next month, despite speculation to the contrary.
Some pubs and restaurants are still open for limited takeaway orders, however this has not been possible for many businesses.
The Financial Times reported this week that Johnson was set to allow the hospitality sector to reopen on 22 June as concerns mounted about job losses in the industry.
However, he confirmed at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) that he would stick to the government’s coronavirus lockdown roadmap, which states that the sector will not open before 4 July.
“We want to reopen hospitality as quickly as we possibly can,” he said.
“According to the roadmap, we were going to open outdoor hospitality no earlier than 4 July – that is still the plan. We are sticking to the plan.
“What we don’t want to see is a roiling, bacchanalian mass of people that can spread the disease.”
Johnson also addressed questions about the government’s two-metre social distancing rule.
There have been calls from hospitality lobby groups to cut the distance between people to one metre to make it easier for venues to operate.
UKHospitality chief Kate Nicholls said many businesses would not be viable if the two-metre rule was kept in place.
Johnson said the rule was under review, while also hinting he may be in favour of a change.
“As we drive this disease down, as we get the incidences down working together, I want to make sure we keep that two-metre rule under constant review,” he said.
“Clearly as the incidents of the disease comes down…the statistical likelihood of how close or far you are from someone who may or may not have coronavirus goes down.”