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Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has told residents to blame the pub closures on the “disaster the government has made in its handling of the crisis”, before level restrictions are imposed. 3 in the area.
Rotheram stressed that the financial package being offered for the areas affected by the stricter measures “was simply not good” and that local leaders had had little say in the government’s decision.
“What has been described as a negotiation between us and them was quite the opposite,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday, adding that ministers “had already made a decision” on imposing a level 3 lockdown on Liverpool before. the discussions started.
Rotheram is among the leaders of the north, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who is pushing the government to provide greater support to affected businesses, including raising the local licensing scheme to 67% of salaries to the 80%.
His comments came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked Rotheram and his colleagues for their “cooperation” on the deal for the measures in Merseyside during an announcement of the new tier system in the Commons on Monday.
Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside face the strictest local lockdown restrictions under the system and will go to the “very high” alert level from Wednesday.
According to the rules, people are not allowed to socialize with anyone outside their home in indoor and most outdoor settings, while travel in and out of affected areas is discouraged.
Pubs, bars, gyms, gambling shops, casinos and adult gaming centers will be forced to close, although restaurants will be allowed to remain open. Pubs serving “hearty meals” may also remain open, although they may only serve alcohol with food.
While the government hasn’t specified what constitutes a substantial meal, on Tuesday morning Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told LBC radio station that a Cornish patty alone, for example, didn’t count.
“If you expect to go to that restaurant normally, or pub, and order a plate of food at the table of a Cornish pie with fries or salad or whatever, then it is a normal meal,” he added.
However, it is likely that few of the so-called “wet” pubs, serving only alcohol, in the Liverpool city region, will be able to switch to a food pub, as most do not have kitchens or the required food license. .
On Tuesday, few bars and pubs in Liverpool city center believed residents would flock to the city center for one last night before the new measures were imposed.
Although the Liverpool Hotel Association said it expected to “drink a little more” in the evening, managers said the city was “dead” by afternoon.
“No one seems to be out at the moment, I think a lot of people are walking away anyway,” Yvonne Taylor said at the Liverpool Pub on James Street. “Our collections have gone down since they brought the [10pm curfew] in.”
The historic Philharmonic Dining Rooms, once frequented by the Beatles and considered a “cathedral among pubs” for its architectural quality, was also quiet with few customers, while a manager of one of the many chain bars in Concert Square said the Staff expected a “normal” slow day.
Additional reporting by Josh Halliday
