With pretty much the entire population of the UK on tenterhooks to learn what the Prime Minister’s roadmap and timetable will reveal on Monday, a row has broken out between Chris Whitty and Boris Johnson over the scale, scope and speed of reopening.
The row centres on the reopening of schools, with Johnson looking to get approval of his plans from the Chief Medical Officer for England, which apparently have not been forthcoming. The rift centres on, how many and how fast.
Such a fallout does not bode well for hospitality as doubtless some horse trading will already be underway to heal the rift and find a compromise ahead of Monday’s broadcast.
Pressure is mounting on Boris Johnson from hospitality to present a roadmap that offers an economically viable path to reopening.
Kate Nicholls and UKHospitality have emphasised how the whole of the hospitality industry is relying on his judgement, with a focus today on the hospitality supply chain.
Similarly, Emma McClarkin and the British Beer and Pub Association have today appealed to the Prime Minister to recognise the plight of pubs.
The government have somehow allowed the roadmap out from the pandemic to become, or at least perceive to be a battle between politics, science, and economics. What it needs to become is a cohesive and practical blend of the three, with politics last in the pecking order.
Starmer’s plan positive for hospitality echoing direction of travel for Johnson
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Hospitality & Catering News: Johnson and Whitty fallout. – 20 February 2021 – Johnson and Whitty fallout.
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