We’re not sure we can blame them…
As the #CancelTheCurfew campaign continues to grow – a movement that aims to put pressure on the government to allow bars and restaurants to open past 10pm – MOJO has gone one step further, completely banning MPs from their bars in response to the new 10pm rule.
Showing their support for the campaign, MOJO is among many establishments who have expressed their concerns for closing early – with nightclubs, in particular, being hit hard by the pandemic.
The Bridge Street bar said in a post on their social media channels: “You won’t serve us, so we won’t serve you!
“Today we call on our friends, colleagues, brothers and sisters in bars, pubs and restaurants across the country to join us in putting all the members of parliament on notice. Until they see sense and either release our industry to trade or provide us with viable financial support, we will not serve them.”
Parliament’s own bar has been made exempt from the 10pm curfew and doesn’t have to take down anyone’s details. I’d like to say I’m surprised…but I’m really not. https://t.co/Y3OjATwo9u
— Sacha Lord (@Sacha_Lord) September 28, 2020
When asked if he stood by the decision to impose a hospitality curfew, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I’m afraid the hospitality sector is an obvious place of transmission of coronavirus. We have to get it down and that’s what we’re doing, that’s what the country is again doing together.”
The 10pm pub curfew means I'm losing about £110 a week of my wages. Which is roughly equivalent to my rent.
At least I get to go to bed before 12..
— Daniel (@danfrown) September 23, 2020
Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has also called for a re-think of the current curfew rules, saying to BBC Radio 4 that there should be an “urgent review” and that “this curfew is doing more harm than good” – after photos emerged of people swarming the streets of Manchester at 10pm on the weekend. Burnham added: “Perhaps there could be a 9pm curfew on the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and shops that would prevent the rush to shops once pubs have closed. That’s what we certainly saw on Saturday.”
Night-time Economy Advisor and Warehouse Project founder Sacha Lord has also had his say on the new rules, labelling them “shambolic”.
The Government need to properly engage with our sector, rather than coming on the news, announcing ill informed decisions.
If they don't, as well as dealing with a pandemic, they will be dealing with a huge surge in mental health.
I'm taking daily calls from people in tears.
— Sacha Lord (@Sacha_Lord) September 29, 2020
Andy Burnham recently criticised the government following Rishi Sunak’s Winter Economy Plan, saying that COVID-19 was further “widening the North-South divide” and that businesses in the North “are not getting the extra help they need”- after the imposition of a number of local lockdowns – which have so far only been implemented in the North of England.