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Boris Johnson will put up to 1 million jobs at risk if he fails to name a date for the reopening of pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues when he unveils his roadmap out of lockdown on Monday, industry sources have warned. Trade body UK Hospitality said it had received indications from government that the prime minister would not even commit to a date for reopening in a particular month, but that he would tie the return of customers to data on Covid infections and hospitalisations or vaccine take-up.The group’s chief executive, Kate Nicholls, told The Independent that businesses from pub chains to nightclubs were “hamstrung” by a lack of clarity from the government about the timing and conditions for reopening and the continuation of financial support.Uncertainty was “crippling” investment and confidence at a time when only one in five companies has enough cash to survive to the end of March.Despite widespread speculation that Mr Johnson will set a target date in May for pubs and restaurants to begin the reopening process, the PM dealt a blow to industry hopes on Wednesday by backing a call from his scientific advisers for timings to be based on “data, not dates”.And the data-driven approach was backed in a report today by the Institute for Government thinktank, which warned that a repeat of last summer’s “mismanaged” relaxation – with schemes like chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out – would undermine recovery and risk forcing England into a fourth lockdown.IfG senior fellow and report co-author, Catherine Haddon, said easing of controls must be based on “clear metrics” like numbers of cases, hospitalisations and vaccinations and the crucial R rate of virus reproduction.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday“The government has a chance to build on the success of its vaccine programme in how it approaches the next phase of Covid,” said Dr Haddon. “But it needs to reassure the public that it won’t repeat the problems that have dogged its strategies in the past. A successful lockdown lifting is not just about producing a ‘roadmap’; it is about how you safely navigate the journey”Writing in The Independent, IFG chief economist Gemma Tetlow said the critical factor in the success of the recovery package is ensuring that Mr Sunak’s approach in his 3 March Budget is “aligned with that set out by the prime minister”. Failing to do so “could undermine the whole plan”, she warned.Treasury initiatives such as Eat Out to Help Out were “mistimed or inconsistent with other government initiatives” aimed at suppressing the virus, while Mr Sunak’s attempts to wind down furlough last autumn were too slow to adapt to the surge in infections as new variants emerged, said the IFG report.Dr Tetlow warned: “Having mismanaged the attempts to roll back social and economic restrictions last year, the prime minister cannot afford to stumble again – doing so, and risking a fourth lockdown, would be a serious failure of government.”Ms Nicholls said that hospitality needs “clarity, certainty and a really clear exit strategy” on Monday.Ideally, the sector is looking for a set date for reopening and for the eventual removal of social-distancing restrictions, coupled with the extension of schemes such as furlough, business rates relief, rent moratoriums and the emergency 5-per cent VAT rate until April 2022. “Second best” would be indicative dates, subject to progress in driving down Covid-19.But she said indications from government were that decisions on extending financial support will be held back until the Budget, and that Mr Johnson would stick to his “data not dates” approach.“Our big fear is that we’re not going to get clarity on Monday,” said Ms Nicholls. “That would just mean that businesses can’t plan at all. And I think that if that’s the scenario, you will accelerate decisions about redundancies and ultimate business administrations.“We are not anticipating getting the level of precise detail that we would need to be able to reinject confidence into the sector. All we can do is to urge the government to work at pace to provide that.”Surveys showed that a third of hospitality premises, ranging from restaurants, pubs and hotels to visitor attractions and coffee shops, are risk of permanent closure over the course of 2021, said Ms Nicholls. And some may not be able to hold on until Mr Sunak’s Budget, she warned.“There are very difficult decisions that will have to be made over the next few weeks,” said Ms Nicholls. “And unfortunately, businesses are going to have to make those probably on partial information.“Business rates relief, VAT, rent moratoriums, all come to an end on 31 March. The fact that we don’t know what happens to those after 31 March and we don’t know when we’re reopening and under what conditions creates a crunch around confidence, because nobody will lend to you, nobody will give you more money to get through this crisis.”As many as 1 million of the sector’s 3.2 million jobs are at risk, with more in danger in the supply chain, including food and drink suppliers and laundries, she warned.And she said that closures on a large scale could devastate town and city centres across the country, with the vibrant pre-Covid food, drink and nightlife scene taking as long as a decade to re-establish. “If you’re closing a pub or restaurant, you’re losing a community asset,” she said. “In the high street, you’ve already lost swathes of retail estate, and you’ve got lots of vacancies. So you can see easily how high streets and town centres start to die off. Hospitality literally brings light and life to those town centres.”Even with the current financial support package, hospitality is burning through £500m a month to stay closed, she said. And the experience of last summer showed that no businesses could do more than break even with partial reopening under restrictions. Businesses which have invested an average £20,000 per site on Covid security measures see no reason why they cannot reopen safely in April, said Ms Nicholls.“The later after Easter the government leaves it, the more likely we are to see business failures and redundancies,” she said. “If we’re going into the summer with heavy restrictions in place, it’s inevitable that we will see large scale failures.”In a message to Mr Johnson, she said: “My main point to the government is that if they want to have a recovery at pace and deliver jobs, growth and investment across all parts of the country at pace, the best way to do that is to support hospitality, because that’s the sector of the economy that will do that for them.“In 2019, we were forecast to grow 5 per cent year on year. We were one of the few sectors of the economy that was in growth; we were generating one in six of net new jobs. And we were investing £10 billion in the high street.“It’s not just our sector that will be hampered if we don’t get the clarity we need – it’s the whole of Britain’s high streets, communities, town centres, national growth, our tourism industry. That’s all damaged if you irreparably damage the hospitality sector. And we will take at least a decade to recover.” More

Conservative MPs from the so-called “red wall” seats won from Labour at the last election have declared their support for a controversial new coal mine in Cumbria. The Northern Research Group MPs accused Labour of turning its back on northern communities by opposing the development at Whitehaven.In a letter to Cumbria County Council’s Labour leader, the 31 NRG MPs – joined by civic leaders from the north of England and a further 12 Tory MPs from elsewhere in the country – warned that threats to block the mine represent a “serious risk” to the area’s economy and jobs.But Labour’s business spokesperson Lucy Powell accused them of “ trying to con people with a false promise”, insisting the mine was not the answer to provide a long-term future for industry.The West Cumbria Mining plans to dig coking coal for use in the UK steel industry were initially approved in 2019, but have split the county, with some welcoming the prospect of skilled jobs and others fighting the proposal on environmental grounds.Formal planning consent is yet to be granted, and on 9 February the council announced it would reconsider the initial approval in the light of the recommendations of the government’s Committee for Climate Change on planned cuts to greenhouse gas emissions after 2033.The rethink came amid reports that that the UK president of November’s United Nations Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Alok Sharma, was “apoplectic” at cabinet colleague Robert Jenrick’s failure to “call in” the plan.It was welcomed by Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband, who said: “The UK cannot claim to be a climate leader whilst opening a new coal mine.”The application is likely to be considered at a council planning meeting in April, but a final decision is not expected until after the local council elections in May.Today’s letter to council leader Stewart Young is signed by Cumbria Tory MPs Trudy Harrison (Copeland), Mark Jenkinson (Workington), Simon Fell (Barrow in Furness) and John Stevenson (Carlisle), as well as others from newly-won seats in the north of England and Conservative mayors of Copeland and Tees Valley.They warned the council might be open to legal challenge for taking into account recommendations which have not yet been adopted by the government, and called on Mr Young to publish internal legal and planning advice to show that the decision to reconsider was not “political”.Mr Stevenson described Labour opposition to the plan as “a direct attack on industry and job creation”, denying Cumbria of more than 500 well-paid jobs at the mine and 2,000 more in the supply chain.And Mr Fell said: “Steel underpins every single renewable technology that we need to employ to hit our net zero target and we cannot make that steel without coking coal. “The choice we face is whether to offshore the carbon debt of mining coking coal to countries like Russia and accept the huge environmental and humanitarian cost of doing so, or to allow this mine to proceed and wrap our own high environmental standards around it. “We simply can’t pretend that this is all someone else’s problem and pat ourselves on the back for hitting net zero 2050 while outsourcing the problem elsewhere. By opposing it, Labour is showing once again that they are out of touch with working class communities in the north of England.” But Ms Powell said: “Not for the first time, Tory MPs are trying to con people with a false promise. “The Cumbria coal mine is not an answer to the issues facing our steel industry. Eighty-five per cent of its production is due for export, and this plant will not address the financial challenges facing the industry going forward or provide it with a long-term future.“We won’t take lectures from the Conservative Party about standing up for UK steel making and the communities which support it, as they’ve failed to tackle the issue of high energy prices steelmakers are facing.“We need investment to help the steel industry to get through the worst economic crisis of any major economy, safeguard primary steel-making, and support the transition to a decarbonised future, protecting jobs and livelihoods. “That’s why Labour has called for a £30bn green recovery to turbocharge our economic recovery and deliver a secure, long-term future for our steel industry.”Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Tony Bosworth said the letter’s signatories “should be listening to climate experts about this mine”.Mr Bosworth said: “Last month the government’s official climate advisers warned that a new mine in Cumbria would increase global emissions and have a negative impact on the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets. “It will also put a massive dent in the UK government’s credibility ahead of crucial climate talks in Glasgow later this year.“West Cumbria, like other parts of the country, desperately needs new jobs – but these should be green jobs created by investing in a cleaner, safer economy, rather than extracting more fossil fuels that help accelerate the climate crisis.”Cumbria County Council declined to comment on the letter. More

Keir Starmer sets out plan for British Recovery Bond to allow people to invest billions in local communitiesKeir Starmer has vowed to “forge a new contract” with the British people in a speech laying out his economic vision for the UK. The Labour leader proposed a new British Recovery Bond to raise billions of pounds to invest in local communities, jobs and businesses. He invoked the spirit of 1945, when Clement Attlee’s Labour government led Britain’s recovery after the Second World War. Mr Starmer said the Tories were not concerned about social justice and that “failed Conservative ideology” had not helped the country. Elsewhere, Holyrood advisers have suggested that a post-Brexit “Scottish visa” could help to prevent depopulation in rural areas. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayShow latest update
1613660093Plaid Cymru politician reprimanded in court for ‘highly inappropriate’ retweet A Plaid Cymru politician has been reprimanded in court for retweeting a message that could have caused the collapse a murder trial.Before a verdict had been reached by the jury, Helen Mary Jones, a Welsh Parliament MS, shared a post which expressed “hope” that the defendant would be found guilty of murdering his wife. The message related to the trial of Antony Williams, 70, who was sentenced on Thursday to five years in jail for the manslaughter of his wife Ruth, 67, on 27 March last year. He was not found guilty of murder by reason of diminished responsibility, after evidence suggested his mental state was “severely affected” by lockdown. A judge said Ms Jones and the domestic violence campaigner Rachel Williams, who wrote the message, could have influenced the jury’s verdict if they had become aware of it. “The reposting was done in genuine error, but I fully accept this in no way changes the seriousness of the matter,” Ms Jones said. Rory Sullivan18 February 2021 14:541613658264Government should launch long Covid compensation scheme for frontline workers, say MPsMinisters should launch a compensation scheme for frontline staff who have long Covid, MPs have said. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus urged Boris Johnson to recognise it as an occupational disease, as some long Covid sufferers find it difficult to return to work. APPG chairwoman Layla Moran described it as “the hidden health crisis of the pandemic”, one which would probably have an “enormous impact” on society in the future. “When it comes to frontline NHS, care and key workers, they were specifically asked to go to work and save lives while everyone else was asked to stay at home,” she added.Rory Sullivan18 February 2021 14:241613656597NIRC comments on meeting with UK and EU officialsHere’s the full statement from the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium after today’s meeting with the European Commission and the UK government. Director Aodhan Connolly said the business community in Northern Ireland needs four things: stability, simplicity, certainty and affordability. Rory Sullivan18 February 2021 13:561613654477Retail boss in Northern Ireland calls for pragmatism from EU and UKThe director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium has called for the UK and the EU to both show pragmatism in helping the business community in the territory. Aodhan Connolly made the remark following a virtual meeting between European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, cabinet office minister Michael Gove and Northern Irish traders on Thursday. He described the meeting as “important”, adding that it should be “the start of a comprehensive dialogue” between the UK and the EU, helped by the expert advice of business leaders. Mr Connolly warned that “unprecedented presure” could be heaped onto supply chains when a number of grace periods elapse on 1 April. Rory Sullivan18 February 2021 13:211613653106Johnson approval rating climbs while Starmer falls behind, poll showsBoris Johnson’s approval rating seems to have climbed five percentage points while Sir Keir Starmer’s has fallen, according to the latest Savanta ComRes poll. Some 43 per cent believe the current PM makes the best leader compared with 27 per cent who named Sir Keir.The poll also found that more people believe Sir Keir’s Labour Party is doing “badly” vs “well” in trying to win back voters lost in the 2019 general election (35 per cent vs 24 per cent), uniting the Labour Party (37 per cent vs 24 per cent), and looking like a government in waiting (36 per cent vs 26 per cent).Mr Johnson’s boost in ratings is likely due to the Covid vaccine programme being rolled out across the UK, which has so far seen over 15 million people immunised against the virus. Sam Hancock18 February 2021 12:581613651970Johnson urged to ‘restart Brexit talks because UK is less safe’Incase you missed this, from our deputy political editor Rob Merrick, yesterday:Talks to rebuild security cooperation with the EU must restart now after the Brexit deal left the UK “less safe and less secure”, a Conservative group says.Boris Johnson is accused of “not being ambitious enough” after the agreement shut down access to vital criminal databases, including records of stolen identities and wanted people.Ejection from the European Arrest Warrant system means “some criminals will not be extradited”, while leaving Europol means the UK will lose crucial influence, a report says.Read the full story here:Sam Hancock18 February 2021 12:391613651157Smaller ferry companies ‘not had enough time’ to adapt post-BrexitStena Line’s head of UK port authorities has said customers are generally “more accepting” of the reality of Brexit now, but warned “small traders” are the ones still suffering. Stena runs one of the most popular Britain-Ireland services available. Speaking to the Brexit and Northern Ireland Committee on Thursday, Ian Davies said: “The amount of work companies are putting in to adapt their businesses [to post-Brexit bureaucracy] is phenomenal. “I work for a big business, I know how much resources we have put into this.”But, he said, “the smaller trader is really, really struggling”. Mr Davies added that although customers had a newfound “willingness” and “acceptance” of the changes Brexit brought about, smaller freight businesses simply “have not had enough time to adapt after this so-called transition period”. The UK’s transition period ended on 31 December 2020 – at which point various border issues arose across the country.Sam Hancock18 February 2021 12:251613648819Labour leader proposes British Recovery Bond to help local communities and businesses The Labour leader Keir Starmer has proposed a new British Recovery Bond to raise billions of pounds to invest in local communities, jobs and businesses. In a keynote speech on Thursday morning, he said the Bond would provide financial security for millions of people. Mr Starmer also called for start-up loans for 100,000 new businesses across the UK to help the economy recover.Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the details: Rory Sullivan18 February 2021 11:461613648312Tories not concerned about ‘inequality or insecurity’, says Starmer Keir Starmer has attacked the Conservatives for failing to tackle inequality in British society.In a speech laying out his party’s vision, he said that the Tories “simply don’t believe that it’s the role of government to tackle inequality or insecurity”.The Labour leader also took aim at successive Conservative prime minister’s rhetoric of change, including its ‘levelling up’ slogan. “But all it ever adds up to is a few soundbites and the odd photo opportunity,” he said.“The truth is, whoever their Prime Minister is, the Conservatives simply don’t believe that it’s the role of government to tackle inequality or insecurity.”Rory Sullivan18 February 2021 11:381613647916Starmer vows bold economic vision Keir Starmer has harked back to the spirit of 1945 in a speech outlining his economic vision for the UK. In his address, the Labour leader said that his party was best placed to lead the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis. “It was there in 1945 after the sacrifice of war and it is there again now – it is there in the determination that our collective sacrifice must lead to a better future,” he said. “We can’t return to business as usual, certainly not to an economy rooted in insecurity and inequality,” the Labour leader added.Rory Sullivan18 February 2021 11:31 More

A special “Scottish visa” could help address population decline north of the border, according to Scottish government advisers.Experts advising Nicola Sturgeon’s administration said a post-Brexit visa for Scotland could encourage migrants to move to rural parts of the country struggling with depopulation.Boris Johnson’s government has previously rebuffed the idea of different immigration rules for different parts of the UK – saying it would be too complicated for employers.However, the expert advisory group on migration said the UK’s new points-based system could still be changed to encourage migrants with the relevant skills to move to Scotland’s rural areas.The group also recommended that the UK government consider relaxing conditions on its post-Brexit skilled worker visa so employers in Scotland could have their own “shortage occupation” list.The advisory group made clear any Scotland-specific immigration scheme would have to identify jobs seen as crucial for rural areas – and should not simply be aiming to achieve “replacement migration”.The report states: “It should be targeted to attract migrants with the skills and profile that would best address socio-economic challenges created by population decline.”Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayFigures released last August showed more areas with a decreasing population than increasing in parts of the Western Isles and Angus in the far north of Scotland.A UK government spokesperson responded to report by saying Downing Street did not want to “create an economic migration border between Scotland and the rest of the UK”. More

Labour leader Keir Starmer has announced plans for a new British Recovery Bond to allow people to “take a stake in Britain’s future” by investing billions of pounds in savings built up during the pandemic in communities, jobs and businesses.Sir Keir said the Bond would provide financial security for millions of people as well as raising funds for investment in the science, skills, technology and manufacturing of the future. Alongside a call for start-up loans for 100,000 new businesses across every region of the UK, it was the most eye-catching new policy in a speech setting out how Labour would approach the 3 March Budget. Sir Keir said the Budget offered a “fork in the road” choice for chancellor Rishi Sunak between sticking to “the same insecure and unequal economy” seen over the past decade of Conservative rule or going forward to “a future that’s going to look utterly unlike the past”. Vowing that Labour would not go “back to business as usual”, he said it was time for a restart equivalent to the post-war creation of the welfare state and NHS and the “homes for heroes” housebuilding drive under Clement Attlee.Covid-19 had exposed “deep inequalities and injustices”, he said, adding: “We have to seize this moment to address them.“I believe there’s a mood in the air which we don’t detect often in Britain.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday“It was there in 1945, after the sacrifice of war, and it’s there again now.“It’s the determination that our collective sacrifice must lead to a better future.”Setting out his plans for recovery bonds, Starmer said that many Britons have “saved for the first time” during the coronavirus pandemic, if they held onto their jobs but reduced outgoings because they were working from home and unable to spend on travel or going out.But he said Mr Sunak could not rely on these savers delivering a consumption-fuelled economic boom by spending their accumulated cash as soon as lockdown restrictions are lifted.The Labour leader pointed to Bank of England warnings that only around 5 per cent of an estimated £250bn in additional household savings built up by June this year will be spent, with much of the rest sitting in savings accounts.He said: “We need to use this Budget to build a more sustainable, secure economy for the long-term.“The Chancellor is pinning his hopes for recovery on short-term consumer spending. But as the Bank of England have said, the vast majority of savings built up during the pandemic won’t be spent.“That’s understandable. But it won’t help rebuild our country and it won’t do much to help savers.”Starmer said that his Bond plan would “build on the spirit of solidarity we’ve seen in the last year (and) forge a new contract with the British people”.Individual Britons would be able to invest in rebuilding a more secure economy, while the government would be providing financial security for millions of people, he said.“It would provide security for savers and give millions of people a proper stake in Britain’s future,” said Starmer.“This is bold, it’s innovative, and it’s an example of the active, empowering government I believe is needed if we’re to build a more secure economy.”Sir Keir said that the Budget was “no time for a second wave of austerity (or) for tax rises on businesses and families”, which would “waste the sacrifices of the past year” by choking off recovery. He confirmed Labour demands for the retention of the £20 uplift to welfare, central funding for local authorities to keep council tax down and an end to pay freezes for key workers. A Labour budget would extend business rate relief and VAT cuts introduced at the start of the pandemic and due to expire in the coming months and would ease the burden of debt on businesses, he said.Sir Keir said that the pandemic had “shifted the axis on economic policy”, with the public now looking for government to do more to provide security, support public services, invest in the future and fight climate change.And he said Conservatives were “incapable” of delivering this because “they simply don’t believe it’s the duty of government to deliver social justice and equality – that’s why they’ll always fall back on the short-term demands of the market”.But in a further signal of his pivot away from the policies of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer said that his vision for recovery would involve a Labour government working closely with business.“For too long Labour has failed to realise that the only way to deliver social justice and equality is through a strong partnership with business,” he said.And he promised: “Under my leadership, that mind-set will change.“I believe in the power of active, enterprising government working alongside British business.“Not because I believe business is something just to be tolerated or taxed, but because I know that government can’t do this on its own.“And that a new partnership with British businesses is the only way to build a secure economy, strong families and a prosperous country.”Labour said that the proposed British Recovery Bond would work like previous National Savings & Investments bonds, but money raised would go directly into the Covid recovery, rebuilding communities and supporting businesses through the new National Infrastructure Bank. The Bond would have a long maturity, but savers would be able to withdraw money early.Interest rates paid would be similar to those on the rest of the market, but Labour argues the Bonds would be attractive to savers because of the extra security offered along with the opportunity to invest in national recovery.Loans for 100,000 entrepreneurial new businesses over the next five years would be delivered through an additional £1bn funding for the Start-Up Loans CompanyLabour aims to double the number of loans provided by the Company from the average 9,500 each year since its creation in 2012 to 20,000 over the coming five years. More

The DUP is urging Westminster MPs to support its campaign to have the Northern Ireland protocol scrapped.Senior party figures including leader and NI first minister, Arlene Foster, have written to all MPs asking them to attend a debate on the protocol on Monday.The protocol is part of the Brexit deal which kept NI in the EU’s customs union to prevent a hard land border on the island of Ireland.Instead, new checks were implemented at Belfast and Larne ports because the EU and UK now follow different customs rules.It has created a de facto border down the Irish Sea between NI and Great Britain, resulting in some trade disruption.Earlier this month the DUP, whose MPs voted for Brexit but then opposed the protocol, launched an official campaign to have the mechanism axed.In its letter published this week, the party said its decision was fuelled by the European Commission’s brief threat of triggering of Article 16. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayBut the party had also been under increasing pressure from its grassroots supporters, who say the protocol poses an existential threat to NI’s constitutional place within the UK.”The actions and statements of the commission have caused very significant anger and harm within Northern Ireland,” the letter states.”[This] compounded the notion that the EU is playing fast and loose with Northern Ireland, attempting, on the one hand, to require the UK government to enforce its obligations whilst being prepared to waive elements of the protocol when it suits the needs of the EU,” it added.The letter also sets out a range of trading areas the party says have been disrupted since the protocol took effect at the beginning of January and calls for its replacement.Opposition parties in NI have accused the DUP of showing little effort in trying to find workable solutions to trade disruption.The EU Commission and the Republic of Ireland government, which played a key role in the Brexit talks, have both said the NI protocol will not be removed.Prime minister Boris Johnson previously said he would be willing to trigger Article 16, which undoes the protocol, if trade problems persist, although neither he nor the DUP has outlined what might replace it.When announcing its campaign on 2 February, the DUP launched an online e-petition for a debate on the protocol in parliament, which has now received 140,000 signatures.Ms Foster said the petition had received support from people in every constituency across the UK.This week’s letter calls for the government to urgently take action to ensure unfettered trade is restored between Great Britain and NI.European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic is due to hold virtual meetings with a range of groups in NI on Thursday.NI has remained in the single market for goods, so products entering the region from Great Britain must comply with strict EU rules on animal and plant health.The full range of checks has not yet been implemented with a number of grace periods still running.Additional reporting by Press Association More

The warning came as the UK music industry issued a plea for the prime minister to name a date for the return of live concerts and festivals, with representatives warning that many of the organisations which put on shows will fold, at a cost of thousands of jobs, unless they get clarity about the future.Mr Johnson has signalled that rapid-turnaround Covid testing will be used to allow venues like nightclubs and concert halls to admit customers.With increasing evidence of the success of vaccinations in driving down coronavirus infections, he is coming under intense pressure from Tory MPs to announce the return of entertainment for the crucial summer season. Mr Johnson is due to set out a roadmap for the ending of lockdown on Monday.More than 40 MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Night Time Economy today published a report warning that lockdown and social-distancing restrictions – such as the “rule of six” limit on social gatherings and requirements for meals to be served with drinks – had left the sector “on its knees”.Based on more than 20,000 responses from consumers, employers, employees, and freelancers in the sector, the survey found that 37 per cent of night-time economy workers have been made redundant, 78 per cent have been put on furlough at some point and 85 per cent are considering leaving the industry. Businesses recorded an average of just 28 per cent of pre-Covid turnover in the second half of 2020, and only 36 per cent of self-employed nightlife workers were able to claim from the government’s main support scheme. The report called for the extension of furlough until nightlife businesses like bars, pubs, music venues and clubs are able to operate without restrictions, as well as the extension of VAT and business rate relief for the sector to the end of 2021.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe government should appoint a night-time economy adviser and provide a sector-specific support package, the report said, with state-backed insurance schemes, solutions to rent arrears and a Treasury-backed Eat Out to Help Out-style scheme to boost demand when restrictions are lifted. With 60 per cent of town-centre revenue generated after 6pm, a vibrant nightlife scene will be vital to restoring the fortunes of urban centres, the report said.The group’s chair Jeff Smith, a Labour MP and former DJ, warned that the loss of nightlife venues would leave a massive hole in local economies and communities.“Our world-leading night clubs, pubs, bars, and live music venues are cornerstones of our communities,” said the Manchester Withington MP. “They drive so much economic activity both locally and nationally, and bring hope, joy and entertainment to millions across the UK. “Our findings today reveal this industry is on its knees, in desperate need of additional support from the government and a concrete plan for reopening. Without these interventions, many of these viable businesses will go under, leaving city and town centres resembling ghost towns. If the government is serious about its ‘levelling up’ agenda, it must act now to save this sector and avoid untold damage to the social fabric of this country.”The chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, Michael Kill, said despite the “devastating” impact of the virus on a £66bn industry employing 1.3 million, the sector’s needs have so far not been addressed by the government.“Every day I speak with the dedicated people that make up this industry – from artists to engineers, bar staff to security, and production to promoters,” said Mr Kill. “They have shown great resilience in the face of adversity.“But resilience only gets you so far without the required support. We need more assistance and a detailed plan for reopening now. Otherwise, much of what defines a night out in the UK will be lost forever.”Meanwhile, UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin called on Mr Johnson to include live music in his roadmap out of Covid-19 on Monday.The imposed shutdown of vast swathes of the industry for almost a year has put thousands of jobs at risk in a sector that provides work for 200,000 people and contributes £5.8bn a year to the UK economy, said Mr Njoku-Goodwin.Government financial support should continue for as long as the live music sector is prevented from operating because of public health restrictions, he said.“We are fast reaching a critical point for the live music industry,” warned Mr Njoku-Goodwin. “If festivals and large events are forced to cancel for another year, many will go under and thousands of jobs are at risk of being lost forever.“We are not asking to reopen a moment before it is safe to do so, but if our sector is to survive through this pandemic then we require urgent clarity about the months ahead and some indication of when live music will be able to return.”A firm restart date for live music would be “hugely welcome”, given the long lead time involved in planning festivals and tours, but at the very least the sector needs “clarity about the conditions under which we would be allowed to get live events under way again”, he said.Live music will play a “key part” in the UK’s post-pandemic recovery, bringing economic benefits to communities across the country and driving business for hotels, taxi firms, restaurants and bars, said the UK Music boss. “The vaccination rollout has been a huge success and case rates are going in the right direction – but without certainty about when live music will be allowed to operate again, many businesses and organisations in our sector and the wider supply chain will struggle to survive.”Lucy Powell, shadow business minister, said: “These businesses are vital parts of the hospitality and tourism ecosystem, helping our towns and cities prosper and thrive. “The failure of government to provide adequate support through lockdown and reopening threatens the future of many. When the prime minister stands up to announce his roadmap he must give businesses the certainty they need to survive and thrive.” More