Government adviser who says two-metre social distancing rule was ‘conjured out of nowhere’ says pubs should re-open – as long as they don’t get overcrowded
- Pubs were shut on March 23 but Prof Robert Dingwall wants rules relaxed
- He sees ‘no particular reason’ why they shouldn’t open on sunny weekends
- Prof Dingwall says it would be up to individual landlords to control the situation
Beer gardens should be allowed to reopen to drinkers, a Government adviser believes.
Pubs have been shut since the UK went into lockdown on March 23, but Professor Robert Dingwall said it is time to relax the rules.
‘If it is a sunny weekend afternoon and the pub has a garden and the landlords are prepared to accept responsibility for not overcrowding that garden, I see no particular reason why it should not reopen,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday.
Professor Robert Dingwall (above) has said ‘there’s never been a scientific basis for two metres, it’s kind of a rule of thumb. But it’s not like there is …rigorous scientific literature that it is founded upon’
The sociologist, who is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, also made a startling claim that the two-metre social distancing rule was ‘conjured up out of nowhere’.
Warning that social distancing measures can’t be sustained without causing damage to society, he said: ‘There’s never been a scientific basis for two metres, it’s kind of a rule of thumb. But it’s not like there is …rigorous scientific literature that it is founded upon.’
As lockdown set in late last month, police were on the alert to close any pubs or bars that refused to comply with the government’s shutdown of social venues.
Pubs have been shut since the UK went into lockdown on March 23. Above, the Old Wellington Inn & Sinclair’s Oyster Bar in busier times before the lockdown, with people drinking in beer garden
A customer in The Cambrian Tap on St Mary Street, Cardiff, March 20, after Boris Johnson announced that all pubs and bars must close
Forces were mobilised to enforce the shutdown, with chief constables engaging civil contingencies designed to respond to events such as rioting and terrorism, allowing longer shifts and making more officers available.
Officers were granted the power Under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to revoke operating licences for different types of venues if they were deemed to be playing a role in disorder.
The Prime Minister had ordered all pubs, clubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and sports centres to close ‘as soon as they reasonably can and not to reopen’ the following day – with drinkers across the country panic-buying alcohol from supermarkets and enjoying their final pints before lockdown.
Revellers enjoyed themselves outside O’Neills pub in Clapham, London, on March 20, ahead of the pub ban coming into force
Patrons were seen dancing at the Lord Stamford public house in Stalybridge on March 20 after the Prime Minister announced the unprecedented move to close all pubs to stop the spread of the coronavirus
On the Friday night just before lockdown, thousands of revellers had ignored the government’s advice on social distancing to enjoy their weekend as usual at venues across the country.
Boris Johnson announced that the government would have to go further as he ordered premises to close their doors, taking away ‘the ancient, inalienable right of free-born people of the United Kingdom to go to the pub.’