So where is the help that the Chancellor promised the hospitality industry?

 Do you remember that big announcement by Rishi Sunak that businesses in the hospitality industry would be getting grants to assist with the problems caused by the latest round of Coronavirus rules etc? That was back on the 21st December. Since then, many businesses (such as us) have had to pay VAT bills, rent and business rates are due any time now. In short, things are difficult. My business had a negative cash flow in December. Many artists booked rehearsals for Xmas and New Year shows. These were booked and paid for months in advance to ensure slots were secured. As Omicron hit and the govt discouraged us from getting together and  having parties, etc, we had mass cancellations galore. We had two weeks of negative cashflow as we processed numerous refunds. As the artists had no income coming in, they had no choice but to claim refunds rather than credits. The pubs and clubs they were playing at lost a huge amount in what should be the best time of the year. In short, the whole sector took a massive kicking?

Now the bills are rolling in for all of us. We've been left high and dry. I've been checking on a daily basis to see what Barnet are doing to pay this. This is the relevant page on their website. It says

New grant for businesses affected by Omicron

On 21 December 2021 government announced a new grant scheme to support hospitality and leisure businesses that are experiencing difficulties because of the Omicron variant.

Hospitality and leisure premises, including accommodation, food and beverage services will benefit from targeted grant support.

We are waiting for guidance from government and will provide further updates when we can.

As you can see, as of today 6/1/2021 at 3pm, Barnet still do not know what is going on. It is all very well saying support will be available, but businesses need it now, to pay bills, not at some date far off in the future. We have landlords to pay, utility bills, staff costs and we have no idea how much or what the criteria are to qualify. I can understand that it takes a few days to sort the details out, but many businesses are going to the wall. Sad to see that the Windmill in Cricklewood is the latest local casualty of the pandemic. 

Sad to hear Windmill pub Cricklewood is closing. Last day party @CluckTownUK is all day Sat. Good luck for future & we will miss you. Thank you George for reopening The Windmill & giving residents their local community pub back. Use your local pub, or lose them. 😢 #pubsmatter https://t.co/IXyFzJYA8M

— Fordwych Residents (@FordwychRA) January 5, 2022

The bottom line is that it is pointless promising aid, if it is not forthcoming. I've been a critic of Barnet Council but they have been most decent with our business with support during the pandemic. It is a shame that the Govt have not got their act together.

Why doesn't Boris Johnson just tell us the truth about covid and vaccine passports?

 I have no doubt at all that by Monday, we will have major restrictions or a lockdown imposed on us. I also have no doubt at all that we'd have one now if there was not a by election today. Boris Johnson is terrified of losing the Stafford North byelection after the last few weeks. He knew that a new lockdown would be the final nail in the coffin of his campaign with die hard covid denying Tories. I'm sure that all of the scientific advice he has got over the last couple of days has been to put new restrictions in place to prevent our hospitals getting swamped. As the Omicron varian is doubling every two days, it is fair to say the damage, hospitalisations and deaths will be twice as bad as they should have been. I watched his press conference yesterday and I was bemused. It was called at the last minute and I expected new restrictions. What we got was bluff and bluster from Boris. I believe that he was going to announce new restrictions and changed his mind, at the last minute, for political reasons. In short, we have a Prime Minister, who I believe is putting his own job and his parties narrow political interests before those of the country.

As for Rishi Sunak, 21 months ago he was widely praised for the Furlough and other help for businesses. Now we are being thrown to the wolves. In my business, I've seen 75% of our studio bookings cancelled, as Xmas gigs, parties and events are cancelled. Musicians can't afford to rehearse without gigs. We've had a dire 2 years. In November, it seemed like we were finally getting back on track. December is a key month for us. Usually the month is jam packed with well paid gigs, so musicians get some funds to see them through the lean winter months of January and February when people are skint. We've all beeb torpedoe'd by the crisis. Without serious support, we will find ourselves in deep trouble. We can't blame Boris Johnson for emergence of Omicron in South Africa, but we can blame him for not having a plan in place, given that it was entirely predictable (Back in January, I predicted that this would happen (I was out by a month)  - 'November -The UK enters lockdown as new cases of the mutant virus run rampant.') We can also blame him for not having a working track and trace system that could have nipped the Omicron plague in the bud. 

Then there are the restrictions he has brought in. To me, wearing masks on public transport and in shops is entirely sensible. I also agree with vaccine passports, however, it enfuriates me that Boris hasn't explained the real reason why they are desireable and necessary. I can only assume that yet again, this is down to his fear of the mad Tory libertarian right. I was sceptical about them until I spoke to a well informed customer, who is a government advisor. The purpose of the vaccine passports is to prevent unvaccinated people, who are far more likely to need medical treatment, from attending superspreader events. The less unvaccinated people who get covid, the less strain on the health service. As Boris and his party are libertarian at heart, this does not sit well with his ideals and he knows it's too hard sell for the 100 odd hardliners in his party. 

I suspect that we'll have a three week 'circuit breaker' lockdown announced in the next couple of days. But hey, what do I know.