Sector once again scapegoated

09-Dec-2021 - Last updated on 09-Dec-2021 at 10:33 GMT

So with the whiff of scandal in the air the Government lurches into distraction - sorry I mean action - to announce the launch of Plan B.

So it’s back to working from home, if you can, and wearing masks, if you’re not exempt (but we can’t ask you to prove that etc etc), and most devastatingly of all for the late-night sector, covid passports.

While pubs and bars and wider hospitality appear to have dodged the requirement for face masks and any further restrictions, for now, the nightclub sector once again gets a kick in the teeth for no particular reason that I can possibly see.

Yet again that sector is singled out, despite a lack of evidence to suggest that it is part of the problem in anyway - and I’m happy to be corrected on that if it’s not the case, I’ll just wait here shall I?

The woolly work from home edict is also going to hammer down any recovery city centre operators might have been starting to make, and in the build up to the vital Christmas party season. Those operators will have already seen a spike in cancellations thanks to the drip drip of scaremongering from government advisors briefing against the actual government advice.

A total drop off of footfall in city centres as people return to working from home will be the icing on the cake for a failed Christmas for many operators.

Suspicious timing?

And the timing of the decision as well, from the Government, seems odd. The last time I checked, the hospitalisation trend was downward, despite the concern over the increase in Omnicron infections.

So with the numbers falling, why the need for Plan B to protect an NHS that doesn’t need it according to the data?

Was the decision, as some suspect, simply an attempt to distract attention from the current scandals swirling about Christmas parties at Number 10? If so, judging by the fact every question in the press conference last night was focused on what the Prime Minister knew about the parties, that's a bust. Shame they had to scapegoat the night time sector to attempt to hide their nefarious activities.

And if that’s the case, then good lord, we’re only one illegitimate child away from a full lockdown at this rate.