| | Good evening everyone. There’s been a fair bit of grumbling about the end of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
For those of you who haven’t used it, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays during August it allowed folk to eat out and get up to £10 off a meal.
That was a pretty good deal for the eaters and funded by the Chancellor so the venues themselves didn’t have to pick up the bill.
The aim was two-fold: to give people the confidence to get back out and about after lockdown and to give a much-needed boost to a sector which had been hard-hit by the pandemic. It was a success, with more than 64m meals bought.
But while it is always good to get a bargain, in the end we will all pay for the Government’s spending spree, probably through higher taxes. If that is going to be the case, shouldn’t we be looking to help another sector which is struggling - the Arts or travel - rather than giving another boost to hospitality?
And when the Government is concerned about rising levels of obesity, known to be a risk factor for Covid-19, is extending the Eating Out scheme going to help that? Take care, Gillian | |
