The co-founder of UK cafe-bar chain Loungers has hit out at the Government over its plan to lock down all regions of England on Thursday.
Alex Reilley, whose business was founded in Bristol and now has 168 Loungers and Cosy Club sites across the UK, including a quarter in the South West, said he was “struggling to understand the logic” of the decision to lock down the West of England.
Mr Reilley said it was “ludicrous” the region was being “pushed down this route” when it was in Tier 1 last week - and had lower coronavirus case numbers than other parts of the UK.
He said the move, which will see the whole of England enter a national lockdown today (November 5), would be “catastrophic” for the hospitality sector - and accused the Government of “plunging” the region into a “draconian lockdown”.
“The South West has been a problem for the Government in explaining this national lockdown, which is why Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned the region in his speech to the commons on Monday,” he said.
“The Government had the opportunity to at least keep the economy going in some of the regions, including the South West.
“There are a lot of people in the South West - at 5.6 million it's bigger than the population of Wales and Northern Ireland combined.
“You have Salisbury, Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Plymouth - and large towns such as Swindon. Wales is doing its own thing and its population is smaller than the West of England.
“It just seems ridiculous the South West has been plunged into a draconian lockdown when there is clearly an argument for keeping it open.”
Mr Reilley said he believed if the South West and North West were switched - and the North West’s case numbers were as low as in the West of England, the North would be “screaming” about it.
“The South West as a whole has suffered from the lack of having a voice. No one is fighting our corner.
“[The Mayor of Greater Manchester], Andy Burnham, has managed to lobby Government for his region, who is doing it for us?”
Mr Reilley said the university cities of Bristol and Exeter were "relative outliers" in the wider picture for the region.
“While everyone is keen to lay the blame at the doorstep of hospitality, you need to look at the student population and the spread within universities. We have to put this into some sort of context here.”
Mr Reilley said the South West needed to be pushing its agenda more - and has joined calls for the Government to appoint a hospitality minister.
“Our economies are being punished - and frankly we could remain active and generating tax receipts and helping pay for the NHS.
“The industry has been undervalued and under-represented at Government level for years. Although I would credit chancellor Rishi Sunak for recognising [the sector’s contribution] this year.
"We should have better representation - our trade body has put in the hard yards, but I think having a permanent seat in Westminster would be good."
According to Mr Reilley, the hospitality industry has seen a “constant stripping away” of how it is allowed to operate.
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“The tier system felt like one punch after another. We are fortunate to have large enough venues so we can take those punches on the chin.”
He added: “A return to what we had after the first lockdown would even be welcome."
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said Boris Johnson had addressed the South West on Monday (November 2).
Mr Johnson said at the time: “Even in the South West, where incidence remains low, current projections mean they will start to run out of hospital capacity in a matter of weeks.
