G-A-Y curfew challenge refused by courts

However, lawyers have been instructed to renew the application for the court’s permission for the case to go ahead.

Since the initial announcement of the case, the Government has implemented the tiered Covid alert system, forcing G-A-Y Manchester to close.

Night-Time Industries Association CEO Michael Kill said: “We are disappointed with the initial decision from the court, but feel very strongly that the case that the G-A-Y legal team has presented is the right argument, and it is one that a court needs to hear."

Not satisfied

He added: “At present we are still not satisfied that we have received anything that even remotely substantiates the supposed benefits of the 10pm curfew."

Owner and CEO of nightclub business G-A-Y Jeremy Joseph launched the legal challenge to the Government’s 10pm national curfew on hospitality venues earlier this month (Monday 5 October).

Joseph was looking for a judicial review to have the curfew overturned, which was implemented from Thursday 24 September.

His legal team wrote to secretary of state Matt Hancock with a formal challenge to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 as amended on 24 September to include the nationwide 10pm curfew.

No evidence

At that time, the G-A-Y CEO said: “It does the opposite of protecting people by pushing them onto the street at the same time. They are going from being safe inside venues with staggered closing times to unsafe on overcrowded streets and overloaded public transport.

“This Government has failed to show why the 10pm curfew was put in place and has published no scientific evidence to substantiate its implementation.

“It seems to direct the blame for this action on the sector, consistently treating the night-time economy as a scapegoat when in fact, we have years of operational experience of keeping customers safe and have spent substantial time and effort ensuring our venues are Covid-secure.

“Enough is enough. Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson have to be made accountable and we have instructed our legal team with the support of the NTIA to serve the Government with a Pre-Action Protocol for judicial review to challenge the decision to implement the national curfew of 10pm on the hospitality sector.”