"10pm curfew is a big mistake and the PM knows it," top restauranteur tells LBC
22 October 2020, 19:01
Restauranteur brands 10pm curfew "totally pointless"
Top restauranteur Jeremy King tells LBC the 10pm curfew is "a big mistake" and "the Government knows this."
Jeremy King is the chief executive of Corbin and King which owns, amongst others, The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Brasserie Zédel.
He said the 10pm curfew is "totally pointless": "I think it was a big mistake... the Government knows this as well.
"Unlike Rishi Sunak who's been prepared to admit a mistake on the job support scheme and remedied it today, the Government are digging their heels in.
"Great Governments listen to the people, great Governments observe what's happening, this is not the case for what we have now."
Mr King said of the Chancellor's announcement, "I think he's gone a long way, he's just saved an awful lot of jobs."
Pub bouncer describes the first night of 10pm curfew
He continued that he does not believe London should be in Tier Two because the World Health Organisation science he has read "says these lockdowns or quasi-lockdowns only damage mental psychological health and finances."
Tier Two involves people being unable to meet indoors from different households - but this has proven to give its own difficulties: "What we had was a situation where the Government said business meetings were legitimate, then they started to qualify it, and it became very very hazy indeed.
"We were told by Mr Jenrick that actually what was meant was if people couldn't have a meeting elsewhere in an office then they could use restaurants for business meetings.
"It's not for us to verify from each person who comes in the door why they're there. If a couple walk through the door, I'm not going to ask them if they're a legitimate couple living together."
Mr King qualified that he was not breaking the spirit of the rules by encouraging meetings indoors, but added that he believes there is more danger in people congregating outside a restaurant or on the tube.
