First Heathrow arrivals land to be immediately escorted to £1,750 isolation room for 10 days - where 'branded shampoo, puzzles and crockery will make them feel at home'
- First travellers taking part in the new UK hotel quarantine scheme arrived this morning at London Heathrow
- Touched down in the UK from variety of Covid red list countries including the UAE, Zambia and South Africa
- Comes amid warnings arrivals at Britain's busiest airport may have to queue for up to five hours at the border
- No protocols are in place to segregate passengers from the 33 high-risk countries from lower-risk arrivals
- Scotland is applying hotel quarantine scheme to visitors from every foreign destination in tougher approach
- Are you arriving in the UK today and having to quarantine in a hotel? Email rory.tingle@mailonline.co.ukThe first travellers have been dropped off at Heathrow hotels today at the start of the government's new travel quarantine scheme - as a hospitality boss vowed to make their ten-day, £1,750 stay more 'homely' with 'branded shampoo, puzzles and crockery'.
Dozens of passengers were seen arriving by coach at the four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian after touching down in the UK from a variety of Covid red list countries including the UAE, Zambia and South Africa.
Fatima, who arrived from Dubai with her two children, told MailOnline: 'We knew that we would have to quarantine and don't have a problem with this. This is a lovely hotel and I think it will be a nice stay.'
The mother revealed that her and her family were met off the plane by security staff and after clearing immigration they were placed on coaches. 'It took quite a long time but they've been looking after us very well,' she added.
Guests will pay £1,750 per person for the 11 nights, plus an additional £650 for anyone over the age of 12 and £325 for children aged between five and 12. There will be no extra fees for children under five.
Throughout their stay guests will have to eat airline-style food left at their door, change their own sheets and towels and be accompanied by security if they want fresh air or a cigarette outside.
The Radisson offers spacious and airy rooms with large windows, Egyptian cotton linen and goose down pillows - although confined guests will be unable to enjoy its spa or choice of three restaurants. Standard rooms cost around £150 a night while superior suites include their own Nespresso machine.
As Fatima tried to continue speaking, security staff intervened ordering her not to say anything else. There are around six private security officials at the hotel and another two or three on each coach that arrivedAnother woman, who had flown in from Zambia, said: 'I'm not happy, but you have to do it.'
A security official said : 'We've had about ten guests so far and others are going to different hotels. We're under strict instructions not to let them meet, speak or get close to other people so you're going to have to leave the area.'
In other Covid developments today:
- Ministers discussed plans to allow for shops to re-open, families to be re-united and self-catering staycations to be given the go ahead if Covid-19 infection rates continue to plummet amid the vaccine rollout;
- Matt Hancock hailed Britain's 15million Covid vaccine milestone but said there was 'no rest for the wicked' as England officially moves on to the next phase of its roll-out;
- Travel industry campaign group, called Save Our Summer, has demanded international travel is allowed to resume from May 1;
- Pub bosses dismissed proposals to allow customers in beer gardens only as 'laughable' and called on ministers to let them fully reopen their doors in April;
- MPs demanded ministers publish an assessment of the economic impact of different routes out of lockdown;
- Downing Street slapped down Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab after he suggested people could have to show vaccine passports before being allowed into shops and restaurants.
A coach delivers passengers to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, near Heathrow Airport, where they will have to go into ten-day quarantine
Travellers getting off coach at the hotel, which offers spacious and airy rooms with large windows, Egyptian cotton linen and goose down pillows
Hotel guests look out of the window at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, near Heathrow Airport, after arriving there this morning
Rooms at the Radisson Blu Edwardian near Heathrow usually cost around £150 a night. Superior rooms like the one pictured come with a Nespresso machine
Vincent Madden, managing director of Arora Hotels, which has opened the nearby Renaissance Hotel to quarantining travellers, today said staff would be introducing several new touches to make the long stay more bearable.
'We've got crockery and cutlery in rooms so people can enjoy meals as they would at home,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
A total of 16 hotels will accommodate guests arriving in England in the coming weeks, with the government reserving a total of 4,600 rooms.
Alongside the Radisson Blu passengers were also being taken to a Holiday Inn this morning.
Other venues involved include the Heathrow Renaissance Hotel, the Ibis Styles London Heathrow East hotel, Novotel Heathrow and the nearby three-star Thistle.
None of the hotels taking part in the quarantine scheme are believed to be taking other bookings.
Flights will have to arrive at five airports in England, which alongside Heathrow are Gatwick, London City, Birmingham or Farnborough in Hampshire. All international arrivals in Scotland will have to quarantine in hotels.
A spokesman for Farborough Airport, which is mainly used by private jets, said all arrivals will be taken by G4S security to one of the Heathrow hotels, according to spokesman for Farnborough.
One of the first Britons returning to the UK to enter the hotel quarantine programme, 24-year-old quantity surveyor Alex Green, pointed out a glaring flaw in the quarantine plan.
Mr Green, who has been backpacking in South America since November, will arrive home from Rio via Paris tomorrow, but on the second leg of his journey will be in close proximity to other passengers starting from Paris, who will not then have to stay in a hotel.
'It makes a bit of a nonsense of the whole thing really,' he said, 'as anyone on my plane who is flying from Paris doesn't have to be quarantined, despite being surrounded by connecting travellers from more exotic and covid-risky countries.'
Alex, from Woodford Green, Essex, told MailOnline how his chaotic experience began last Thursday as thousands of travellers clamoured to access the government's website to book their hotels.
'It didn't start well. The website was due to go live at 3pm UK time, but immediately crashed and stayed closed for 'maintenance' for the next 27 hours whenever I tried to access it.'
Finally receiving his confirmation email, Alex learned he would be a 'guest' at the 4-star Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel, with, as he put it: 'an unrivalled view of Heathrow's Northern Runway.'
The email read: '1 X QUARANTINE PACKAGE STANDARD….£1,750', cash to be paid upfront with a refund only allowed if cancellation was more than 48 hours in advance.
Then he had to rapidly book a one-day covid PCR test, knowing that if he failed, he would miss the 48-hour refund threshold for the hotel.
Thankfully he found a test, and was negative, so his unscheduled hotel incarceration under the stern gaze of security guards in the corridor of the Radisson will begin tomorrow morning.
Asked how he thought he'd deal with the isolation, he said: 'It's hard to tell, without much information to go on. Will I have to take up smoking just to be allowed outside?
'I've heard rumours that there will be no cleaners allowed into the bedrooms or bathrooms, which will certainly rekindle memories of student days!
'I've also read how the mountains of dirty plates piling up led to rodents in one of the Australian quarantine hotels, which I don't much fancy.' Asked how he thought he'd deal with the isolation, he said: 'It's hard to tell, without much information to go on. Will I have to take up smoking just to be allowed outside?
'I've heard rumours that there will be no cleaners allowed into the bedrooms or bathrooms, which will certainly rekindle memories of student days!
'I've also read how the mountains of dirty plates piling up led to rodents in one of the Australian quarantine hotels, which I don't much fancy.
'As most people do when bored at home or in their room I plan to eat a lot, but at the price we've paid for this hotel you might expect five á la carte meals a day from Gordon Ramsay, but I fear the reality will be rather less enticing. '
He said other Britons he'd met abroad had either rushed to fly home before the hotel quarantine law came into force for 'red list' countries such as Brazil.
But he added: 'I am possibly one of the few people relieved to be going to the hotel.
'The option of leaving Brazil earlier to isolate at home and putting my family at risk was never considered. Staying in a hotel for ten days is nothing compared to the losses faced due to this pandemic.'
Heathrow Airport today warned of long queues at Border Control and said there were no protocols in place to segregate passengers from the 33 high-risk countries from others despite the stringent quarantine measures being introduced.
It is feared the safety of up to 8,000 passengers a day could be compromised as airport staff carry out extra checks on those entering the country.
Union bosses warned the new system, which will see all passengers from the 'red list' countries having to quarantine for ten days in a hotel, will not be enough to stop the mutant variants from spreading.
Officials estimate that checks carried out to identify if a traveller has arrived from one of the Government's 'red list' zones could double the standard time taken to 15 minutes per arrival.
A Heathrow spokesman told The Times: 'Our key concern remains the ability of Border Force to cope.
'Queues at the border in recent days of almost five hours are totally unacceptable.
'Ministers need to ensure there is adequate resource and effective processes at the border to avoid compromising the safety of passengers and those working at the airport, which could necessitate the suspension of some arriving flights.'
The Immigration Services Union (ISU) today warned that its workers have not been given enough guidance about how to enforce the quarantine policy.
They said immigration officers had no power to stop travellers running away from airport terminals and had few powers to detain them at the border.
Extra police officers have been sent to Heathrow to support Border Force staff.
Speaking today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the system has been operating 'smoothly' since it came into force at 4am today.
The Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel is one of 16 hotels taking part in the scheme, which will see visitors charged £1,750 for a ten-day stay
A woman arriving at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel this morning. Ministers hope the new policy will help spot new variants spreading around the UK
Sadly quarantining visitors will not be able to enjoy many of the facilities at the Radisson Blu Edwardian as they will have to stay in their rooms
A room in the Novotel London Heathrow Airport T1, T2 and T3 Hotel where passengers entering England from one of 33 'red list' countries will stay during a 10 day quarantine period
The Novotel is one of 16 hotels being used for quarantining arrivals from the 'high-risk' countries under a new scheme starting today
Twin rooms come with a small window sofa, desk, safe and minibar. Guests will not be allowed to leave their rooms except for brief periods to get fresh air
The Novotel lobby, which has been recently refurbished. The hotel has 166 bedrooms and is less than a mile from the airport
Travellers arriving in the UK queue outside a Covid testing centre on the first day of the government's hotel quarantine scheme. It is not clear if the people pictured will have to quarantine
Passengers arriving in the UK this morning queue outside a Covid test centre at Heathrow's Terminal 2. Arrivals from red list countries will now have to quarantine. It is unclear if this applies to any of those pictured Asked on Times Radio how quarantine hotel-bound passengers are being prevented from mixing with other arrivals in airports, Mr Hancock said: 'All of this has been clearly set out, and I'm glad to say that, as of 6.30am when I got my latest update, this is working smoothly.
'We've been working with the airports and the Border Force to make sure that everybody knows (how it works).
'We have had to put this in place rapidly, I make no apologies for that, and we've been working with Heathrow and others.'
Pressed on how 'red list' passengers are being kept away from others, Mr Hancock added: 'You go down a separate channel at the gates and, once you've been through the gates, which are manned by the Border Force, there is then a security operation supported by the police so that people are gathered, go and pick up their luggage and then go to the hotels.
'So that's all in train; there was a walkthrough of it yesterday and obviously it has been in place since four o'clock this morning.'
People required to enter the quarantine hotel programme must enter England or Scotland through a designated port and have pre-booked a package to stay at one of the Government's managed facilities.
No international flights are operating to Wales or Northern Ireland.
All guests arriving in England will have to pay an individual fee of £1,750 and will have to eat airline-style food left at their door, change their own sheets and towels and be accompanied by security if they want fresh air or a cigarette outside.
Yesterday frantic travellers made a desperate dash to return to the UK before the stringent rules came into force.
Pria Mitchell lives in the UAE but her 16-year-old daughter, Jaya, is at sixth form college in the UK. She sent her home yesterday with a friend so she would not have to quarantine in a hotel alone.
'There's no way I'd send my 16-year-old to a hotel room globally anywhere, so the idea of putting her in a hotel room on her own was terrifying,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
'I can't find any information on any government website on what I should be doing with an unaccompanied child.'
Real Housewives of Cheshire star Dawn Ward - who has been in Dubai - posted an Instagram video yesterday with the caption 'I'm coming home'.
Stephanie Lvovich, 50, and her daughter Ava, 13, who flew into Heathrow Airport from Dubai, told The Sun: 'We booked a flight as soon as we heard about the hotel quarantine.'
Meanwhile Tom Weston, 24, who arrived from Doha, Qatar, told the paper: 'I've been very keen to get in. I wouldn't cope well with two weeks in a hotel . . . and the expense.'
Ahead of the new rules being introduced, Meher Nawab, chief executive of the London Hotel Group, warned that many airport hotels rely on central air flow systems.
Pointing to Australia's system - which is currently under review amid an outbreak linked to quarantine hotels - he warned such systems could increase the risk of the virus spreading between guests and hotel staff.
Mr Nawab also warned that airport hotels often use central air conditioning systems - rather than individual units - and sometimes have windows that cannot be opened.
Union chiefs meanwhile warned that the quarantine measures were not enough to prevent Covid variants spreading in the UK.
The GMB union, which represents hotel security and staff, also raised concerns about its members interacting with arrivals from 'red listed' countries which are included in the quarantine hotel scheme.
Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, told The Observer: 'If you've got people getting off planes from the red list countries, then being crammed into areas with passengers who aren't going into quarantine – and staff as well - you've failed at the first hurdle.
'Our members working at, the ground staff, security staff, have been raising concerns about this for two weeks now. Heathrow just isn't safe at the moment.'
Despite the rising criticism Matt Hancock said: 'As this deadly virus evolves, so must our defences.
'The rules coming into force today will bolster the quarantine system and provide another layer of security against new variants at the border.'
This month analysis carried out by the World Health Organisation found dozens of countries where the highly-infectious South African and Brazilian variants had been found were not on the list.
They included Austria, Denmark, France, Greece, Japan, Kenya, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada and the United States.
MailOnline understands that the 3-star Thistle Hotel at Heathrow could also be used as part of the scheme
A plane flies over the Renaissance Hotel near Heathrow Airport as it prepares to welcome travellers from the 33 'red list' countries
The Ibis Styles London Heathrow East is set to welcome guests. It is seen last week with large medical bins outside
The majority of those required to quarantine will arrive at Heathrow, but bosses yesterday said there were 'significant gaps' about how the scheme would operate remain. Pictured: Novotel Hotel near Heathrow Airport which is being prepared for use as a Government-designated quarantine hotel
The four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian, Heathrow is one of the 16 venues taking part in the government hotel quarantine scheme
A traveller arrives at Heathrow Airport this morning after Britain introduced its quarantine programme for a number of 'high-risk' countries
Travellers may have be forced to queue for up to five hours as the Government's quarantine hotels comes into force today. Pictured: Passengers arrive at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport
A three-star Ibis will be among the hotels welcoming Heathrow arrivals as part of the government's travel quarantine programme, MailOnline can reveal. Pictured is one of the twin bedrooms
Travellers won't be able to enjoy the spacious bar and dining areas as they will be confined to their rooms for the entire 10-day stay, with airline food left at the door
The Ibis Styles London Heathrow East is owned by Accor, a French company that has the motto 'live limitless'. Pictured: The desk area in one of the bedrooms
Reviews of the Thistle (left, and rodent trap outside right) have compared it to 'Fawlty Towers' and it has also been called 'depressing'
While former Labour leader Ed Miliband told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: 'At the moment the government is proposing a quarantine system that covers just five per cent of arrivals that happen each day in the UK.
'That is not an effective quarantine system.'
It came as Jeane Freeman, the Scottish health secretary, said UK ministers' refusal to help track arrivals who cross from England into Scotland was 'deeply disappointing'.
Ms Freeman said she would go ahead with plans for checks at the border in Scotland after no agreement was reached in talks last Thursday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also warned that police in Scotland could be asked to 'do more than they're doing right now' to make sure travellers were not trying to cross the border.
Speaking at a coronavirus briefing, Ms Freeman said: 'It's deeply disappointing that as part of a family of equals, one partner isn't prepared to help the other partner enforce the policy that they think is the right policy for the people they represent.
'The discussions will continue, because we are, as we have always been, keen where we can to reach a four-nation approach to deal with a virus that doesn't respect boundaries and borders.
'But in the meantime, we will work through what the options are to mitigate where the UK government stance creates a loophole.
'We can't have people coming in, getting on public transport, coming to Scotland and we don't know about that and they are not required to quarantine in way that we can't manage so we have to consider what our options are about that land border.'
Boris Johnson will come under pressure today from a newly-formed action group demanding that international travel resumes from May 1.
It comes amid claims that the Government has in effect declared war on the travel industry with its advice that no one should book a holiday either in Britain or overseas.
The new group, called Save Our Summer (SOS), is made up of UK travel companies whose total annual revenues came to more than £11billion before the Covid crisis.
It is demanding that the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announce a clear timeline for the opening up of travel.
First arrivals leave Edinburgh airport as Nicola Sturgeon enforces 10-day hotel quarantine for arrivals from ALL foreign countries
The first arrivals to take part in Scotland's hotel quarantine scheme touched down at Edinburgh Airport today before being escorted to their accommodation.
Travellers flying directly into Scotland on international flights have to self-isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel room, under new regulations taking effect this morning.
Unless exempt, a passenger will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in a room at one of six designated hotels in a bid to avoid importation of the virus.
However, Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said on Sunday a 'loophole' allowing overseas travellers to avoid hotel quarantine still exists which could 'potentially undermine the public health approach here in Scotland'.
Passengers leave Edinburgh airport after entering the country on the first day that travellers flying directly into Scotland on international flights have to self-isolate
Travellers flying directly into Scotland on international flights have to self-isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel room, under new regulations taking effect this morning
In England, the UK Government will only require hotel quarantine for visitors from a 'red list' of 33 countries designated as high risk, meaning travellers arriving from elsewhere could avoid it by entering Scotland via England.
Visitors would still have to self-isolate for the 10-day period, but would not have to do so at one of the designated hotels due to a lack of agreement between Scottish and Westminster governments.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday that he is happy to discuss the matter with the Scottish Government.
Mr Matheson told the BBC's The Sunday Show: 'It is a loophole that has been created by the UK Government and its failure to take action on the basis of the clinical, expert advice that has been provided on this matter.'
He added: 'The simplest and the safest approach to dealing with this is to have a comprehensive system in place.
'If the UK Government aren't prepared to do that, we could resolve the issue by simply ensuring those who are transferring on to Scotland have to go to a quarantine facility near to the airport they arrive at in England.'
Asked about the possibility of border checks, Mr Matheson said it would be 'very challenging' to implement due to the number of vehicles travelling between England and Scotland.
In an interview on BBC Good Morning Scotland on Monday, Mr Hancock was asked whether he could assist the Scottish Government by allowing people travelling to Scotland to quarantine in England if they arrive at Heathrow or another English airport.
He said: 'I'm happy to have those conversations.'
Unless exempt, a passenger will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in a room at one of six designated hotels in a bid to avoid importation of the virus.Asked whether this would be with a view to making it happen, he said: 'If you allow me to have the conversations first.
'But because we have put in place one system to operationalise this that applies across the different airports of the UK including Edinburgh and Glasgow, that does mean that we are in a position to make these sorts of amendments, but the central point is, it doesn't matter where you land in the UK, (there is a) very robust, comprehensive system of quarantine, and it is comprehensive, because you have to quarantine for 10 days and have the two tests after you arrive no matter where you are coming from.
'But there is a different degree of risk coming from somewhere where a new variant is the dominant variant locally, like Brazil, or coming from somewhere where there isn't much coronavirus.'
Announcing the quarantine policy in parliament last week, Mr Matheson said six hotels have been block-booked in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with up to 1,300 rooms available.
Three of the the hotels are near Edinburgh Airport, two close to Glasgow Airport and one near Aberdeen Airport.
Scottish Government guidance stipulates those subject to quarantine require a negative Covid-19 test no more than three days before travelling and to have booked at a room at a quarantine hotel in advance.
They will also have to submit a passenger locator form to the Home Office declaring which countries they have been to in the 10 days before arrival in the UK.
Airlines have been asked to check for these and they will also be checked by Border Force officers on arrival, who can issue fines of £480 for non-compliance.
Security will then escort passengers to baggage reclaim and to pre-arranged transport to the quarantine hotel.
On arrival at the hotel, they will be given two home testing kits to be used on days two and eight of isolation.
These are covered by the cost as are three meals per day, fruit and soft drinks.
If they test positive at any point they will be required to stay in the hotel for 10 days after the test, at an additional charge starting at £152 daily for the first adult.
Ministers are also said to be considering plans to allow for families of a single household to travel across the UK for an Easter holiday in self-catered accommodation (holidaymakers at Lyme Regis, Dorset, pictured previously)
The pace at which restrictions are eased will depend on the ongoing scientific advice but ministers are also considering plans to allow grandparents to reunite with their grandchildren outdoors next month (stock image)
In the interview with US television network CBS, Mr Johnson continued: 'What people want to see is clarity about the way forward, and taking steps to unlock, which you don't then have to reverse.'
The latest developments could also see the easing of restrictions on outdoor exercise and socialising as early as next month with the return of one-to-one outdoor sports such as golf and tennis.
It is thought that this will be followed by the re-opening of non-essential retailers with pubs and restaurants being allowed to serve people outdoors later in April.
Indoor hospitality would not return until May with the possibility of delay until August.
The pace at which restrictions are eased will depend on the ongoing scientific advice but ministers are also considering plans to allow grandparents to reunite with their grandchildren outdoors from next month.
Schools are set to be the first to return with people also allowed to meet friends and family outdoors on a one-to-one basis.
A government source told The Telegraph that there could be an exemption to the one-to-one outdoor meeting rule for children: 'If grandparents had had the vaccine, that would be likely to be okay.
'Given that people will have immunity, that would be a fair assumption, but nothing has been decided.'
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock set out yet another ambitious goal as he aims to roll out 32 million jabs to all those at risk by April.
The Prime Minister will publish a detailed roadmap setting out his plan for lifting the national lockdown in England next Monday, starting on March 8 with the return of schools and allowing people to meet one friend for coffee on a park bench.
The blueprint will avoid setting hard-and-fast dates for subsequent stages, but will lay out the sequence in which restrictions will be lifted.
No 10 officials are working on three different plans for unlocking based on the health data – optimistic, moderate, and gloomy. The speed restrictions are lifted will depend on infection rates, hospital admissions and deaths. Ministers are waiting to receive figures this week showing the effect the vaccine is having on transmission. A leading epidemiologist yesterday said early indications show a single vaccine dose offers protection from the virus after three weeks for 67 per cent of those inoculated.
Professor Tim Spector, of King's College London, who runs the Zoe Covid-19 surveillance app, said if the results from 50,000 people are replicated amongst the wider population we will 'have really knocked this virus on the head'.
Yesterday Mr Raab rejected what he described as an 'arbitrary' demand from some Tory backbenchers for a lifting of all restrictions in England by the end of April.
More than 60 MPs in the Covid Recovery Group backed a letter to the PM that said schools 'must' return on March 8 as planned with pubs and restaurants opening in a 'commercially viable manner' from Easter.
Mr Raab, however, said while ministers wanted to lift controls as quickly as possible, it was essential to ensure the disease was under control first.
Tom Ironside, of the British Retail Consortium, said last night: 'As soon as the Government announce retail can reopen, shops will be ready to do so safely.'
It comes as pub bosses yesterday demanded the return of inside drinking in April – and called plans to only reopen beer gardens 'laughable'.
Patrick Dardis, chief executive of the Young's pubs chain, said wet weather would make the outdoors-only idea unworkable and a partial reopening would not be viable for many landlords.
His comments came after a bust-up between pub groups and the Government saw companies pull out of regular business roundtables in frustration.
Ministers are said to be considering plans to allow hospitality firms to serve customers outside by Easter, which falls on the weekend of April 2, with a full reopening not expected until May at the earliest.
This has infuriated industry leaders, who yesterday backed demands by Tory MPs for lockdown restrictions to be fully lifted by the end of April, when most over-50s are expected to have been vaccinated.
Mr Dardis yesterday said: 'There is talk about opening pub gardens but I'm afraid that is just nonsense. It is a ridiculous idea that you can just open up in outside spaces. This is the United Kingdom. Yes, of course, you occasionally get a half-decent spring and a good summer but it is mostly wet and cold. So what would be the point?
'It demonstrates that certain people in government have lost touch with the public on this and just do not understand.'
Pub bosses yesterday demanded the return of inside drinking in April – and called plans to only reopen beer gardens 'laughable'
Patrick Dardis, chief executive of the Young's pubs chain, said wet weather would make the outdoors-only idea unworkable and a partial reopening would not be viable for many landlords. People are seen outside a pub in the rain in Windsor hours before Tier 3 restrictions came in last year
Ministers are said to be considering plans to allow hospitality firms to serve customers outside by Easter, which falls on the weekend of April 2, with a full reopening not expected until May at the earliest. People are seen going for a drink in Dundee, Scotland when coronavirus restrictions were eased last July
He said Young's, which has more than 200 pubs mostly in the South East, was losing £5million a month even after receiving state support such as business rates relief.
Mr Dardis, 61, added: 'Every pub company in the land is burning through millions and millions of pounds every month we are closed – and most cannot afford to keep going for much longer.
'On what basis are they making these rules? It is just laughable – as was the 10pm curfew, as was the nonsense about what a 'substantial meal' was. When pubs opened last summer more than £500million was spent [making them Covid-safe]. But there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the infection rate grew as a consequence of pubs being open.'
Mr Dardis has written to Boris Johnson criticising the Government's 'obvious lack of interest and respect' towards the sector and argued that pubs should reopen in April.
Tim Martin, chairman of pubs giant JD Wetherspoon, also criticised the beer gardens proposal yesterday.
He said: 'These decisions are made by ministers with no experience of business, or empathy for business.
'In my 41 years in business, it's the least consultative and most authoritarian government I've experienced.'
Food delivery firm Deliveroo and 300 restaurant groups also called on the Government to help the hospitality industry yesterday and suggested that Chancellor Rishi Sunak should revive the Eat Out to Help Out scheme when they are allowed to reopen.
However, scientists have continued to urge caution over the easing of restrictions when Mr Johnson reveals his 'road map' out of lockdown for England next week.
Dr Bharat Pankhania, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter medical school, said calls to reopen pubs in April were premature.
He said: 'What the executives of pubs need to know is that failure to get it right equals back to square one. And back to square one equals much more pain economically, much more hardship.'
A Government spokesman said: 'We are deeply disappointed that some pub leaders have decided to step back from meetings with ministers. As we plan our way out of restrictions, we will continue to engage relentlessly with the hospitality sector, as we have done throughout this pandemic.'
Dominic Raab suggests vaccine passports could be needed for SHOPS
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