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Scotland’s nationwide crackdown on indoor drinking spiraled into chaos Thursday night, less than 24 hours before tough new hospitality regulations go into effect.
Many business owners in central Scotland, where Nicola Sturgeon announced a 16-day closure of pubs, restaurants and cafes serving alcohol on Wednesday, said they were still not sure if they were expected to close at 6pm on Friday, as described by commercial agencies. Scottish government behavior as “dysfunctional”.
In her statement to the MSPs, the prime minister said that the temporary closure would include all authorized locations, although cafes without an alcohol license could remain open until 6 pm “to support social isolation.”
But at lunchtime Thursday, during questions from the prime minister, Sturgeon introduced an exemption for licensed cafes, stating that they could also stay open as long as they didn’t sell alcohol.
As companies absorbed the news, many began to question precisely how a cafe is defined, while desperate owners asked if they could stay open after all.
Then on Thursday evening, Jason Leitch, the Scottish government’s national clinical director, compounded the confusion when asked to clarify the situation during an interview with BBC Radio Scotland. Leitch said it would be left to the environmental health officials of Scotland’s 32 local authorities to define and enforce the regulations.
This appeared to contradict Sturgeon’s earlier statement, when he insisted that a “specific exemption” for coffees would be established in the regulations to be published on Friday.
With businesses still awaiting clarification of the guidelines, hotel bodies said many establishments were still unsure whether or not they were expected to close.
Describing the unfolding chaos as “dysfunctional”, Scotland Food and Drink CEO James Withers said the problem could have been foreseen if the Scottish government had consulted companies in advance. “If they had contacted us even on Monday, we could have resolved this in time for an announcement on Wednesday,” he said, adding that “it was also insane” that licensed restaurants cannot stay open but do not serve alcohol.
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association clearly stated that “there is no such thing as a licensed cafe” and therefore there is no definition in law of a cafe versus a restaurant, while leading licensing attorney Stephen McGowan, of the TLT law firm, asked the Scottish government to offer clarity. “If parliament doesn’t define coffee and is left to local interpretation as suggested here, then expect outright carnage across the country. Has a store closed and the one next door opened under the subjective view of a council official? What a position to be. “
Earlier on Thursday, companies expressed their anger and despair over the new “catastrophic” and “scapegoat” regulations and highlighted the lack of industry consultation, while local residents in online forums denounced the “ban” that would result. more severe restrictions in central Scotland.
