The great British pub scene could be decimated by COVID-19 restrictions
There may soon be less places to enjoy a pint in sunny England with up to a third of pubs predicted to shutter their doors.
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The pub was open, but it had no beer.
My local neighbourhood backstreet watering hole has started doing takeaway meals as the United Kingdom lockdown continues.
They were trying to do their best to keep the lights on as closures cripples the UK’s hospitality industry, with many pubs across London boarded up.
The bartender turned-takeaway-check-out staffer said they were not making any money, but they wanted to do something.
A steak and chips never tasted so good – I had not realised how long it had been for something that would have been my go-to order.
I’m not the only one. Farmers have launched a $2.5 million AUD advertising blitz to get people to eat more beef.
The higher end cuts that are normally sold in pubs and restaurants have been going to waste.
The supermarket offerings, which are more like minute steaks at porterhouse prices, are just really not the same.
We are into week seven of lockdown here and with the UK death toll now topping 30,000, it will likely be extended until the end of the month when Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes an announcement on Sunday.
As a child, I thought the 1984 movie The Neverending Story, really did never end because I was always sent to bed half way through.
I have the same feelings about the lockdown.
Even if it officially ends in June, there’s no chance of life going back to normal.
The current plan was for the Tube to only use as little as 20 per cent of its capacity and for people to ride their bikes to socially distanced workplaces.
Cafes, restaurants and pubs were last on the list of things the government would reopen and many will struggle if they can only have half their regular number of patrons.
A survey this week from technology specialist Fourth warned up to a third of the UK’s 40,000 pubs would close for good because of coronavirus.
That will be a huge blow in a country where many people use the pub as a second lounge room, with the small sizes of houses here making a quick trip down the local far more attractive.
A weariness with the lockdown has begun to creep in.
On my daily visits to the park, friends who I see at the required two metre distance are sick of it.
Some have been asking about which countries might open for a holiday later in the summer months of July and August.
There is a bit more traffic on the roads but people have been sticking with the advice despite the inconvenience.
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“Professor Pantsdown” did not share the same solidarity with his fellow citizens.
Prof Neil Ferugson, who advised the UK should go into lockdown, quit his government post when it was revealed he had broken his own rules by meeting his married lover twice.
Front pages normally reserved for footballers behaving badly had a scientific flavour.
One wag asked if Prof Ferguson’s mistress was going for “nerd immunity”.
He believed that after recovering from the virus he was safe to continue on life as somewhere close to normal.
However, the government dismissed his immunity theory and he fell on his sword.