Dear Prime Minister,

Urgent – 21st June and the urgent need for relaxation of restrictions affecting pubs

We are writing on behalf of the Campaign for Pubs and pubs, publicans, their staff and their families to urge you and the UK Government to remove key restrictions that are damaging pubs, form 21st June, as planned.

As you and your ministerial colleagues are aware, the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions over the last fourteen months has been disastrous for pubs, publicans and their families. As well as being closed for a very large proportion of that time, pubs have also not been able to operate normally as pubs since the pandemic began. Impositions such as table service and other requirements have meant increased costs while the need for social distancing has meant restricted trade. Pubs that have lost a huge chunk of a year’s normal turnover now desperately need to be able to trade normally again if they are to have any chance of paying off rent and other debts, let alone recovering and becoming profitable again. This is not currently the case; our publican members report levels of trade being only somewhere between 50-70% of comparable times of year in previous (trading) years. This is not sustainable and unless it improves, many publicans will simply not be able to continue…