Corona Crisis: British pubs fool Boris Johnson



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It was a crazy idea, that’s it. But is it the fault of the boss of a tequila bar? In any case, James Aspell recently joined the founders of religions and founded the “Church of 400 Rabbits” in Nottingham.

Should he win the city administration post, the 34-year-old wants to pay homage to a special spirit in the circle of his faithful congregation, even if not necessarily the saint. Mass, Aspell says, is then read “every day until late at night.”

Typically British eccentricity? More like an act of self defense. As the second nationwide lockdown in the UK ended on Wednesday, countless shops, hairdressers, cinemas, restaurants and sports facilities can reopen. Bars and pubs, on the other hand, remain closed in many places. Unless they can find something to get around government restrictions.

First Oliver Hardy, then Oliver Cromwell

And because places of worship can widen their doors for believers, Aspell tequila thought, “Fuck it, let’s start a religion – it can’t be that hard, can it?” see, it hasn’t. But at least everyone should know that they see the British government and the way it handles the pandemic as a “lie”. It is not the only one.

Indeed, Boris Johnson, the hapless Prime Minister, has been facing a growing storm of protests for days. The British hospitality industry, the opposition and even much of his Conservative party are openly rebelling against the 56-year-old, who took office in 2019 as a good-humored free spirit, but is increasingly authoritarian in the crown crisis.

According to the conservative “Spectator”, he went from “Oliver Hardy to Oliver Cromwell”. On Tuesday, Johnson was able to assert himself in much of the country for months to come, thanks to the Labor opposition, which abstained. significant restrictions apply.

It is no coincidence that the annoyance arose from the fact that tens of millions of Brits were currently not allowed to drink a quick beer in the pub. Johnson might have guessed it: in the spring he himself had declared that he was going to the inalienable right of “every free-born Brit”.

What is a “real meal”?

However, the government has now placed major obstacles in front of most of Britain’s nearly 50,000 pubs. Since the number of infections and deaths is relatively high even after the second four-week block, the highest or second highest corona warning level applies in 99% of the country with immediate effect.

In regions like Nottingham, where the ‘Church of the 400 Rabbits’ will be built, this means that pubs can only sell food and drink outside the home. In the second level, which affects about 32 million people, alcohol can also be served in the room, but only if a “real meal” is served with it.

However, even the government does not know how to answer the question of what it means. This became clear on Tuesday with the example of the “Scotch Egg”, a popular bar snack consisting of a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage.

While Agriculture Minister George Eustice said a scotch egg “probably” counts as a real meal, Brexit chief Michael Gove, himself Scottish: “For me this is just a starter.” A few minutes later he corrected himself to say that it was a whole meal after all. An assessment Johnson’s spokesman protested the next day.

A thousand pounds for “wet” pubs

It was pretty much the re-launch of an October discussion when cabinet members decided after a Monty Python-like dispute: a Cornish mess alone won’t fill you up, but with chips and / or salad it can pass as a meal.

All of this would be hilarious were it not for the economic existence of tens of thousands of hoteliers and their employees. Purely “wet” pubs – the ones that only offer liquids – Johnson just promised a £ 1000 Christmas bonus. However, many fear that they will not be able to hold out much longer under these circumstances.

Not a few have therefore begun to interpret the confusing rules in their favor. The GAY bar in London’s Soho, for example, wants to allow guests who drink to have food delivered to their table from a nearby fast food chain. In Brighton, the staff of the “Caxton Arms” recently started tapping a beer called “Substantial Meal”, true to the old drunkard’s motto: “I can drink what little I eat”.

In Gosfield’s “Kings Head”, owner Matthew Arnold has expanded his menu to include inexpensive dishes like baked beans on toast or hot dogs with fries. These “aren’t the best prepared dishes”, Arnold openly admits, but they are “substantial” and leave “room for an extra drink or two”. The meager Covid tables are now offered in the Essex pub for just £ 1.99.

Arnold calls them “Boris Menus”.

Icon: the mirror

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