London mayor Sadiq Khan has called on Boris Johnson to ditch the 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants when lockdown ends on 2 December – as he set out his own recovery plan for the capital.
Downing Street is reportedly set to announce an extension to the curfew until 11pm in parts of England where pubs are allowed to re-open from 3 December.
However, Mr Khan urged the prime minister to scrap any curfew within his strengthened, three-tier regional system. The mayor claimed there was a “route out of this crisis” without such harsh restrictions on hospitality.
London had been living under tier 2 measures prior to the nationwide lockdown, with a ban on mixing between households in all indoor settings – including pubs and restaurants.
However, reports suggest ministers are ready to move more parts of the country into a toughened tier 3, in which the hospitality industry will have to stay completely closed.
It raises the possibility pubs and restaurants in the capital will be told to remain shut when the government announces the status of each area this Thursday.
The mayor said he had decided on a strategy “to get our economy open safely” and help firms survive the winter after meeting with London’s business leaders.
Mr Khan called on chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the business rate holiday for retail, leisure and hospitality beyond March 2021. He also urged Mr Sunak to reverse plans to VAT retail export scheme – which allows VAT-free shopping for international visitors – at the end of 2020.
The London mayor said it was time for No 10 to work with City Hall and businesses in the capital on the rapid roll-out of mass testing and any vaccination programme.
“The future of our capital city as a global centre of business, culture and tourism is vital to our country’s economy,” Mr Khan wrote in a joint letter to the prime minister – alongside UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls and more than dozen other leading business figures.
“Damage to London’s global competitiveness will not just be felt in the capital but will impact the whole of the UK.”
The latest weekly coronavirus figures from the Office for National Statistics show infection rates are rising in London, eastern England and the southeast, but are decreasing in other areas of the country.
