Pub worker slams 'utterly obscene' act during Covid restrictions

A bartender has criticised pubgoers for an “utterly obscene” act during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Will Dalrymple, from Sheffield in South Yorkshire – north of London, is a bartender at a tier-two pub.

Current restrictions in the UK allow bars and restaurants to operate in a three-tier system. Tier three means a restaurant has to close and can only do takeaway, while in tier two they can remain open and serve alcohol – but only with a “substantial” meal.

Tier one is table service only for all venues, but otherwise they operate as normal.

However, Mr Dalrymple is calling out a problem with people heading to pubs under the tier-two restrictions and tweeted anyone going out for a drink should only “go when you're hungry”.

“Aside from the appalling food waste I've witnessed over the last two days (scraping whole meals, untouched, into the bin because the people who bought them fancied one pint before catching the train home) you really should be actually eating in order to be able to enjoy alcoholic drinks,” he tweeted.

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Mr Dalrymple added a photo of three plates of sandwiches and three plates of chips.

“All this food went in the bin because three people wanted two Morettis each,” he tweeted.

“With everything in the news about people relying on food banks and free school meals, this is utterly obscene.”

Confusion over ‘substantial’ meals

There has also been ongoing confusion as to what equates to a “substantial” meal as outlined by the UK government.

One pubgoer told Vice all they had to order were pigs in a blanket and called the rules a “p***-take”, while a person accompanying them said it was “too much food” and they weren’t going to finish it after eating before going to the pub.

Others said they had to order an entire pizza while another ordered wings which they didn’t describe as “substantial”.

There has also been attention focused on the status of the Scotch egg – a delicacy consisting of an egg wrapped in meat and breadcrumbs.

After some debate over whether it was a meal, a starter or a bar snack, senior minister Michael Gove told ITV it was a substantial meal and said "I myself would definitely scoff a couple of Scotch eggs if I had the chance".

He had earlier told LBC radio a "couple of Scotch Eggs is a starter, as far as I'm concerned".

Food bank demand on the rise

The UK has seen record rises in people relying on food banks throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

The Trussell Trust, which supports more than 1,200 food banks across the UK, said its network experienced a 47 per cent increase in usage from April through to the end of September.

The trust said more than 1.2 million emergency food parcels were delivered with more than 470,000 of these going to children.

It predicts there will be a 61 per cent increase in food parcels required across its network from October to December, the equivalent of six parcels given out every minute.

In October, the UK’s unemployment rate rose to 4.8 per cent.

with Reuters and AFP

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