Save our Pubs Petition

Do you remember the good old days before the Lockdown? Well, things are getting even worse for pubs and other businesses in the hospitality sector, indeed, the future of many is looking bleaker by the day as more and more lockdowns arrive, and more areas are being placed in higher tiers, despite virtually every other business in the country carrying on trading, even hairdressers and gyms in tier 3! 

Just what has this Government got against Pubs?!? There is very little evidence of COVID-19 being caught in pubs, indeed rates of infection only increased when schools reopened in September, and then rates shot up when universities and further education colleges reopened, whilst pubs have spent plenty of money on 'mitigations' and actually carry out the private track & trace system's work for them!

Then 'wet pubs' were offered a paltry £1,000 because they were closed under the systems of tiers introduced by the Government (blog), have the people in power no idea of the continued costs publicans have to fork out for?

Anyway, here's a petition urging a Government package to support the trade!

Please sign at this link, cheers!

Bad News for Ale Houses

The Government is offering just £1,000 as a one-off payment in December to pubs in Tiers 2 and 3 that don't sell food, that is 'wet pubs,' as announced by the Prime Minister earlier today (sky). What a disgrace! What is it that the apparent puritans in Government have against pubs?!? 

First, how the hell can publicans get by on just a grand, it's as though Government Ministers want pubs to go under, I wonder if they've been given stuffed brown envelopes by property developers? It wouldn't surprise me with this bunch of corrupt incompetents!

Second, why is it just the hospitality sector that is being hit by the Government? Gyms are returning, hairdressers are returning, museums, football crowds, everyone except pubs, the one sector that actually managed the COVID-19 Crisis between the lockdowns, spending out on 'mitigations' requested of them by Government, administering 'track & trace' records, sanitizing regularly, ensuring social distancing etc etc!

Indeed, the rate of COVID-19 is decreasing, see my other blog for example, whilst the Government puts at risk the future of our pubs, I'm sad, but also I'm very angry! 😡

November: Save our Pubs, News and Views

I received my November copy of CAMRA's What's Brewing a few days ago and, unsurprisingly, the main theme was their campaign to "save our pubs from extinction" (website), also inside was the regular Roger Protz article which this month emphasized that we should "kill the virus not our locals." Obviously it isn't just CAMRA trying to save our local and community pubs, but the pub trade and brewing industry have their own campaigns (Campaign for Pubs), and, of course, we the customer do not want to return to a 'normal' life that has lost local pubs, which provide a social hub for many, a community service that the Government cannot provide, help prevent loneliness and depression, and help to ensure a good mental health for many, not to mention great real ales. I don't know about your locals, but the 6 pubs I have visited since the first lockdown all ensured sufficient mitigating factors were in place to ensure Covid Safety for their customers. But now a second month-long lockdown comes into force in England on Guy Fawkes Day, the 5th of November 2020, a lockdown that is very likely to go into 2021... Now is the time to save our pubs from extinction!

Oh yes, and this is the usual time of year to sample 'green hopped' ales, that is, ales brewed using hops picked that morning (though I doubt many stick to that 'purity') but basically, the hops used for the brew are freshly picked, not dried/preserved, which always provides a variation of tastes, and they are usually pretty excellent, as brewers are very careful with these seasonal beers. Anyway, I was going to walk up to the Tower (blog) last week as Louisa promised me she had 2 firkins of the always excellent Dark Star Green Hopped IPA (6.5%) in her cellar the previous week, so I was going to visit last week to savour this delicious ale... Sadly, the weather was atrocious and I didn't make it up the hill. But then, my more local 'local' the Dolphin (blog) had the same ale delivered last Thursday, and was going to have it available this week, but now the lockdown has stopped that happening, I'm not a happy bunny at all 😒 

Any more news? Well, Marston's has merged with Carlsberg, and any merger is a cause for concern, but we shall have to wait and see how that pans out...

Beer sales have plummeted, apparently, since March and lockdown, which is hardly surprising, and pubs, breweries and jobs are at risk even more now.

Whatever, look after yourselves during these bleak times, and be safe!