SIBA responds to news reports Prime Minister is to scrap Covid passports for pubs and hospitality
Responding to news reports that the Prime Minister is to scrap covid status certification (passports) for pubs and hospitality, James Calder, SIBA Chief Executive said:
“With cases now as low as they were last Summer and the extraordinary progress of the vacation programme it is sensible and welcome that the Prime Minister is moving away from the idea of Covid Passports for hospitality.
We know that pubs and taprooms are safe based on all the evidence collected over the last 12 months. Covid passports would have been another unjustifiable level of red tape and incursion into the freedom of individuals. But whilst this is good news as pubs in Scotland and Wales open today, the industry is still running at a third of its usual capacity and small breweries, who mainly supply pubs but were left out of hospitality support, are still under immense pressure. Pubs and breweries will not be profitable for many weeks and months to come until all restrictions are peeled off.
For many businesses the threat of closure is not over, with hundreds of small independent breweries across the U.K. seeking the introduction of a ‘brewers support fund’ as already introduced in Scotland. Without it, your local brewery will not be out of the woods yet” James Calder, SIBA Chief Executive
