As Fears Grow That Pubs Will Close From Monday In Parts Of England, Everyone Is Googling Whether There’ll Be A UK-Wide Alcohol Ban

Yesterday, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a 16-day period of tighter lockdown restrictions, including all alcohol-licensed premises across the central belt – including Glasgow and Edinburgh – to close with those in other areas only allowed to serve alcohol outdoors. As English people frantically google the fate of their next G&T, it seems Boris Johnson is considering a similar crackdown on pubs and restaurants in parts of England.

BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg announced that new measures that could see pubs and restaurants closed in areas hard hit by coronavirus (such as Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle) as soon as Monday. Just moments ago, communities secretary Robert Jenrick said the government was 'currently considering what steps to take' and measures will to tackle to rise in Covid-19 cases will be announced 'in the coming days'.

So, what does that mean for a UK-wide alcohol ban? Well, after the 10pm curfew was announced with the intention to reduce drinking in pubs and thus social mixing, it seems there is a growing focus on the role of drunkenness in the spread of Covid-19.

In Scotland, 3.4million people across the central belt (which includes Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Forth Valley, Lothian and Ayrshire and Arran health board areas) have been impacted by a partial alcohol ban that has seen all licensed premises – excluding hotels for residents only – required to close indoors and outdoors areas with only takeaways permitted. While cafe’s that don’t have alcohol licenses can remain open until 6pm, snooker and pool halls, indoor bowling alleys, casinos and bingo halls have also been ordered to shut for two weeks from the 10th October.

In England, Boris Johnson defended his 10pm curfew on the use of alcohol.

‘What we've seen from the evidence is that the spread of the disease does tend to happen later at night after more alcohol has been consumed,’ he said in the House of Commons. ‘This is one way that we see of driving down the R [rate] without doing excessive economic damage.’

But yesterday in the House of Commons, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer questioned the scientific basis of the curfew, and asked the Prime Minister to provide evidence for its benefit before a retrospective vote in the Commons next week.

The question of the role of alcohol in spreading the coronavirus then seems to be more and more important to the government. Which is exactly why people are now frantically googling ‘Will there be an alcohol ban in England too?’

Will there be a UK-wide alcohol ban?

It was speculated a few weeks ago after Wales banned all alcohol sales after 10pm as part of their coronavirus crackdown. Will England follow the example of now two of its closest neighbours? While reports surface around pubs and restaurants closing in parts of England, there is yet to be any confirmation on an outright ban on serving alcohol.

You’ll remember, when the UK first went into national lockdown in March, we became a global laughing stock when off licenses were included in a list of essential premises to remain open despite coronavirus deaths spiking every day.

However, former government scientific advisor Professor Neil Ferguson warned this week that pubs and the like may need to close if we want to keep schools open.

'We see from data collected by the government that if you look at the risk factors for becoming a case in the last few weeks attending bars and hospitality venues is a risk,' he said. 'Yes, we may need to [close them], particularly in hotspot areas where case numbers are increasing fast, we may need to consider those measures.'

When asked about the possibility, a number 10 spokesperson told the DailyMail 'The PM has set out that we keep all the measures that we put in place under review but we have recently set out a package of measures with the specific intention of reducing the R rate and limiting the spread of the virus and you are very familiar with what they are.'

Staying as vague as ever, the idea of a stricter curfew as in Scotland and Wales, a partial alcohol ban or outright pub and restaurant has those in hospitality worried, and angry.

'While it’s admirable to see the Scottish government taking measures to curb the spread of the virus, it would be more admirable to take measures that are driven by data and might actually work to stop the spread,' says Brittney Bean, founder of restaurant Mother Clucker, 'as of yet, no data at all shows that hospitality is the cause of greater infection rates.'

'According to Public Health England, in week 40 for example hospitality accounted for 4% of infections vs 38% from schools and university,' Bean continued. 'The curfew is dumb and so is curtailing the sale of alcohol in locations which have measures in place to manage health and safety. The hospitality industry and nighttime economy are taking an unjustified beating with little to no sector specific support and hopefully the English local governments will take a more data driven and pragmatic approach to managing rising infection rates.'

Of course, as Neil Ferguson noted, scientific advisors do seem to be concerned about the risk factors associated with the hospitality industry. And until Monday's supposed announcement, all we can do is hypothesise. But until the words come out of Boris Johnson’s mouth, we’ll be enjoying our socially-distanced G&Ts for the foreseeable.

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