The internet has gone mad over the chancellor Rishi Sunak’s refusal to rule out a return of Eat Out To Help Out this winter. And by mad, I mean really flipping angry, because Lockdown 3 is now trending on Twitter.
Sunak refused to rule out a return of the scheme when asked by Sky news - he said: "I won't talk about specific measures but more broadly, I think it's right that when we finally exit this, and hopefully next year with testing and maybe indeed vaccines as well, we'll be able to start looking forward to getting back to normal.
"I think we'll have to look at the economic situation then and see what's the best form of our support, and we want to make sure that we get the economy going strongly coming out of this.
"We want to make sure that we support employment and support people going into jobs, we want all the people, who have sadly lost their jobs, we want to help them find new ones
"We want to get consumers spending again and people out and about.
"So we'll look at a range of things to see what the right interventions are at that time.”
So that’s not a yes, but it’s definitely not a no either, which in terms of politics these days is virtually the equivalent of him using the opportunity to unveil the new winter-y Eat Out To Help out logo, replete with a Santa hat.
The only problem with this is that we’re currently in the midst of a second wave, and a second lockdown. The week ending 5th November saw more recorded positive coronavirus cases in the UK than ever before. And while Eat Out To Help out may have been a big boost to the economy in August, it didn’t do much to keep our Coronavirus levels under check. You may recall that one study estimated that Sunak’s first Eat Out To Help Out Scheme directly caused a sixth of all Coronavirus clusters over the summer.
So it’s no surprising that Sunak’s non-announcement non denial was met with some sceptisism on Twitter. So much so that Lockdown 3 is now trending, much to our collective dismay. After all, Lockdown 2 the sequel has already proved itself to be just as shit as its predecessor, so we’re not that up for turning it into a trilogy. Even if we do get to spend December eating half-price Byron Burgers beforehand..
Just to recap, this isn't the first time Eat Out To Help Out faced. controversy. Remember when the scheme was first launched, and people (and by people we mean us) were quick to point out that the name has a rather different meaning to the one he probably intended?
Well, it sounds like he's talking about cunnilingus, doesn't it to be honest?
When he came up with the policy, Sunak was clearly had in mind a cheeky mid-week Pizza Express, but Twitter was thinking differently...
READ MORE: Is TikTok Getting Banned In The UK?
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak's 'Eat Out To Help Out' Scheme Doesn't Go Far Enough For Businesses Like Ours
Snacks That Have Been Discontinued And We'd Love To Eat Right Now
1 of 24Hubba Bubba Bubble Jug
Because why eat gum, when you can kind of drink chew it type of thing?
2 of 24Cartoonies
You KNEW it was gonna be a good day when there were some Cartoonies in your lunch box.
3 of 24Cadbury's Astros
Right, now I've remembered THESE exist, I'm going to make one of those petitions. Smarties type shell, Cadbury chocolate and biscuit in the middle. Feel like pure shit, just want her back x.
4 of 24Panda Pops
A teacher in primary school used to give us traffic light lollies and a Panda Pop every Wednesday afternoon. Probably not allowed that now, is it? The little bottles of sweet sweet pop were axed in 2011 after 35 years in business.
5 of 24Smiths Crispy Tubes
Now I've seen these and tasted them in my memory, I'm actually furious. Thanks.
6 of 24Sun Lolly
Because triangular ice lollies are the best. Don't fight us.
7 of 24Vice Versas
Ok, this is when white chocolate comes into its own. Basically Minstrels, but white chocolate in dark case and dark chocolate in white case. Delicious. First produced in the UK in 1991, then re-launched in 2004, only to be withdrawn a year later. A rollercoaster of emotions I'm sure you'll agree.
8 of 24Salt and Vinegar Crunchies
Big fan contributing editor Jessica Barrett says, 'They sold these at my school for 10p a bag' which sounds like BLISS.
9 of 24Fake candy cigarettes
Now very much illegal. Problematic? Yes. Delicious? Sorry yes. Can we just have some candy vapes please? Or these ones, available on Amazon as 'Candy Sticks'.
10 of 24Piglets
Assistant editor Charlotte Williamson says: 'Pig-shaped, pig-flavoured crisps called Piglets that we made into pig crisp sandwiches. I can't imagine they exist anywhere now but they should.'
11 of 24Brannigans Crisps
We're remembering, specifically, the mustard ones that made your nose burn. Fond memories. Which it seems you can re-enact by buying them still.
12 of 24Burton’s Potato Puffs
If you know, you know. I can taste these little puffy pastry potato-y things right now – and there are a million campaigns on Facebook calling for them to come back.
13 of 24Mini Cheddars Crinklys
These were AMAZING and we don't understand what happened. That's all we can say.
14 of 24Mars Delight
Only four years in our lives – and yet still strong in the internet's memories (there was a petition to bring them back). The 'lighter' and (massively offensively) branded as a more female Mars bar, the Delight lived from 2004 til 2008. We'd love to tell you what was in it, but we've always just been MAN ENOUGH to eat a normal one… Apparently it had some wafer in.
15 of 24Flyte
'Taste the chocolate, skip some fat' says the label. Which is probably why this one went out of business tbh.
16 of 24Cadbury Spira
We can't say we'd massively been missing this one, but now we're LOOKING at it, we're very, very keen to give it a try. Which is annoying.
17 of 24Trio
Or should we say, TRIIIIIIOOOOOO! Toffee, chocolate, biscuit – what's not to like? Actually, you all seem to think so, because you can still buy them.
18 of 24Cadbury Fuse
The launch of the Fuse bar in 1996 was such a big deal that Cadbury even renamed launch day 'Fuseday' in its honour – apparently 40 million were sold in the first week. And with a load of nuts, cereal, raisins and fudge rammed inside chocolate, we can see why.
19 of 24Cadbury Dream
So, basically, this was just white chocolate. And, ok, I'm nailing personal preference to this gallery, but I just don't get white chocolate. But people who like white chocolate are like people who like gin – they have to talk about it all the time. So the internet STILL talks about Dream bars. Even though, after being brought out in 2002, they were discontinued a few years later because of poor sales. Which makes my point, really.
20 of 24Cadbury Snow Flake
There was a MASSIVE outcry when Anthea Turner posed with one of these at her wedding to Grant Bovey and given the way today's world spins on #Ads, is kind of hilarious. Anyway, the bar itself was a white chocolate flake wrapped in milk chocolate, which is not, let's face it, the most interesting thing everyone remembers.
21 of 24Rowntree’s Secret
Great advertising line: 'You can't trust anyone to keep a Secret'. The bar itself though, apparently not as good…
22 of 24Milkybar Choo
See, what did I tell you about white chololate people. There's a PETITION to bring this one back. Chewy fudge, covered with white chocolate.
23 of 24Cadbury Marble
Celebrity director Guy Pewsey pens this love letter to the Marble: 'In the early noughties, Cadbury launched Marble. A swirled mix of milk and white chocolate, biting into it unearthed a velvety praline centre. It was delicious, and just felt a bit more elegant than the standard chocolate bar. Alas, they didn't last, and were discontinued several years ago.I truly think about them all the time. More expensive praline chocolate bars don't hit the spot in the same way. They were a real treat and I'd love to have them back. Word on the street is that Australia is reviving the bar after a popular campaign to bring them back. But there are no such plans in the UK. Can I call that a form of localised discrimination and take it to the high court?'
24 of 24Toffo
Individually wrapped toffees (so there'd be no lying to your mum about how many you'd scoffed) in a signature red tube. You could also buy them in various flavours – yuck, sorry. You can't buy them anywhere now. And we've tried.