Sunak’s hospitality bailout is only enough for now, just

The £1bn support package only plays catch-up with the current ‘stealth lockdown’. More may well soon be needed

It’s something. The chancellor’s Omicron support package for the hospitality sector is worth £1bn, enough for Rishi Sunak to claim he listened to the cries of distress from pubs, restaurants and leisure businesses and acted. And, to be fair to him, there was applause from the main industry lobby groups. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, called it a “generous package”.

It is hard, though, to escape the sense that the measures could quickly be overtaken by events. This is a limited package that is designed merely to catch up with the current “stealth lockdown” environment, meaning consumers’ sensible decision to tone down their partying. It would not be sufficient to cope with a ramping-up of restrictions beyond plan B.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3J5yP1w