Last Wednesday at Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer asked Boris Johnson what the evidence base is for the new 10pm curfew in pubs and restaurants in England. The Prime Minister failed to provide any such evidence, and, as a well-placed source puts it: “there is none”.
Starmer’s intervention was interpreted by political journalists (myself included) as a clear signposting of Labour’s intention to change direction on the policy which, as well as lacking a clear evidence base for its effectiveness in containing the virus, is badly damaging the ability of hospitality venues to turn a profit in an evening, after months of closures due to lockdown and, in many cases, extra costs and lower overheads as a result of implementing measures to make the premises covid secure.
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