Leaving aside the fact that according to the Government’s own rules, London should have been in tier three from the get go, the fact they’ve given operators a days notice to shut down operations is devastating.

Bear in mind, these are pubs that would have been, hopefully cautiously, gearing up for Christmas trade, ordering in food and drinks, filling their cellars and fridges to take advantage of the meagre trade the government was going to allow them to do.

No support offer

Giving 24 hours’ notice is not acceptable and leaves operators sitting on stock that will now go to waste, leaving licensees again with further debt, and no offering of support or compensation from the Government to offset those costs.

The meagre grants, and measly £1,000 top up so grandly announced by Boris Johnson does not touch the sides. Operators would stand a better chance of getting more cash by taking part in a television gameshow, and maybe that’s the Government’s plan, seeing as they’ve got some time on their hands.

Joke situation

The situation is a joke and continues to underline the obvious contempt and lack of consideration this Government has for our industry.

It’s time they took their foot off our throats and started offering some serious financial support to offset the kicking they’re giving to an industry that should be part of the solution and not dismissed as part of the problem based on a total lack of evidence.