UK Governmente will allow takeaway beers and alcohol during the second national lockdown.
UK Government will allow takeaway beers and alcohols during the second national lockdown. According to the new rules, customers must pre-order their drink online, or by phone or post, which can be collected as long as they do not enter premises.
Takeaway beers allowed: a relief for alcohol industries
This U-turn comes as a relief for beer and alcohol industries. Previously industries’ chiefs warned that the ban would have resulted in “thousands of gallons of beer (being) poured down drains”.
Also, pub owners and campaigners pushed the Government for reversing the “baffling” and “nonsensical” decision.
Nik Antona, chairman of The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “I am delighted that the Government has listened to the concerns of thousands of CAMRA members, concerned pub-goers, and beer lovers who have emailed their MPs in the last 48 hours urging the Government to allow pubs and breweries to sell alcohol as takeaway during the second lockdown.”
He also added that the decision is “a vital lifeline for local pubs and breweries across England over the coming four weeks”. In fact it gives them “a lifeline of income and allowing people to support local businesses”. Indeed, without a sector-specific support package, the government risk seeing thousands of pubs and breweries closing their doors for good.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), said that takeaway alcohol from pubs if it is pre-ordered and customers not to enter the premises is movement, but still not anywhere near enough.
She added, “Supermarkets and off-licenses can still sell alcohol so this is grossly unfair on pubs with off-licenses. It remains the case that to help pubs and brewers survive, and to stop up to 7.5 million pints from being wasted, the Government needs to give pubs the same ability to sell off-license alcohol as it did in the first lockdown.”
Regulations’ details to be voted on Wednesday, November 4
Details of regulations drafted to cover England’s expected second lockdown will be voted on in the House of Commons today, Wednesday 4.
Guidelines say that a restricted business can only sell alcohol for off-premises consumption by “making deliveries in response to orders received” through a website or other online communication, by telephone, including text message, or by post. They also state that pre-ordered drinks can be sold to, and collected by a customer which does not enter the premises to do so.
Moreover, a customer can also collect pre-orders in a vehicle as long as it is passed over without the purchaser or any other person leaving the vehicle. A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said: “We recognize that these are extremely challenging circumstances for pubs and the hospitality industry. Public health and safety remains our number one priority. That is why pubs and other hospitality venues cannot serve alcohol on-site to take away. This is to prevent people from gathering outside their premises.”
During the second national lockdown, people will only be able to visit outdoor public places with the people they live with and their support bubble. Or with one person from another household in parks, beaches, countryside, public gardens, allotments, and playgrounds.
