Scotch eggs and sauvignon: Amid confusion, England’s pubs try to adhere to ‘farcical’ Covid restrictions

The humble scotch egg may emerge as one of few winners from the coronavirus pandemic. Until this week, the sausage meat and breadcrumb delicacy had been deemed a snack by many.  

Now it has been elevated – after a public disagreement among ministers of Her Majesty’s government –  to the status of a “substantial meal”, to be enjoyed in a pub, at a table, perhaps with a bottle of wine.

In the middle of a crisis that has claimed more than 60,000 lives in the UK, the fact that politicians have struggled to give clear guidance about which food can legally accompany an alcoholic drink is absurd.  For England’s pubs it’s also a serious matter.

Thousands of venues in tier 2 areas threw open their doors on Wednesday and the lack of clarity around the rules is causing worry, anger and frustration.

In Bexleyheath, south London, the Robin Hood & Little John is uncharacteristically quiet. Trade is down 70 per cent on normal levels, says owner Ray Johnson, 74, who has run the pub for four decades.

As required by the rules, he is only serving drinks with food but the fact he has to make a judgment call on what constitutes a substantial meal is, he says, “ridiculous”.

The government’s “winter plan” states that drinks can only be served alongside something “like a full breakfast, main lunchtime or evening meal”. It has since clarified that the key issue is that food must be served at a table.

Like many pub owners, Johnson is unimpressed by a government he thinks is out of touch. His pub is now only open from 12 until 3 and he is weighing up whether it’s worth being open at all.  

“To be quite honest with you, if you were to give me a scotch egg and tell me that was a substantial meal I’d be very upset,” he says.

“Am I supposed to be watching people and then say ‘sorry, you’ve just put your knife and fork down, will you please leave now’? 

"It’s just not practical.”

While this interpretation might sound extreme, there have been reports this week of police officers throwing people out of pubs after they finish their food. The boss of Young’s, one of Britain’s biggest breweries, accused officers of intimidating customers.

“Whoever wrote these rules doesn’t drink in a pub and has never worked in a pub,” says Johnson. “They’ve got absolutely no idea. I imagine they sat there in front of a spreadsheet coming with this stuff. They certainly haven’t spoken to anyone in the trade.”

The Robin Hood was forced to throw away £3,500 of beer when the lockdown was announced, with little notice.

The government’s failure to explain its reasoning is a further source of annoyance. “I assume these rules are meant to stop excessive drinking but we’ve always been responsible for preventing that anyway,” says Johnson. 

“It’s just total confusion. I’ve been in this business for 40 years and this is the first time I’ve been sat here and I just don’t know what to do."

He needs to order more beer soon but is worried he may be forced to shut when the government reviews the tier system on 16 December. “I’m going to look at it again in a few days and work out whether it’s worthwhile staying open.”

He is not alone. A survey by the British Beer and Pub Association found that pubs expect turnover to be 58 per cent down in December compared to last year.

Some publicans have tried to put a light-hearted spin on the situation. Andy Rogers, general manager for Moss & Co which owns a number of pubs in Norfolk recently introduced a 75p dish called the “botched egg”.

He told the Eastern Daily Press: “People like coming in and having the ‘botched egg’ and then they might have a few drinks with it. To be honest, it’s so filling, they’re too substantial to finish.” 

The Caxton Arms in Brighton went a stage further, offering patrons a pint of “hearty, filling and flavoursome” ale named “Substantial Meal”.

Other venues have tied up with takeaway restaurants so that they can stay open. Yet customers are not allowed to bring their own food into venues.  

G-A-Y nightclub in Soho is working with nearby restaurants – including McDonald’s – to offer a table service menu. Owner Jeremy Joseph told the PA news agency the government had “f****d up” by failing to give clear guidance.

“It’s all very well saying you've got to serve food. But that’s not what we do. Do they want me to suddenly open a kitchen and start cooking when I have no idea about food hygiene?” he said.

Adam Mayers, managing director of Manchester-based brewery Hydes, which owns 80 pubs, was similarly scathing.

“The guidance on what or what isn’t a substantial meal has been farcical to say the least.  The government then decided to call it a ‘table meal’. That provide the same level of clarity.

“We have taken a pragmatic approach and not tried to bend the rules.  Therefore we have not considered a scotch egg, pickled egg or any other snack in egg form a substantial meal.”

The more important thing, says Mayers, is that, meals or not, many pubs are still not viable in under tier 2 conditions. Nine in 10 of Hyde’s pubs are currently closed or not viable.

For pubs still closed under tier 3, problems are even more acute.  

Leanne Wehrle and her father Delwyn, run the Tivi Ale in Oldbury, West Midlands. The pub is losing around £1,000 a week. It has no facilities to cook food and has teamed up with local restaurants in the hope it can open when restrictions are eased.

Before the last lockdown an inspector from the council came to check whether the pub was Covid-secure. This leaves Wehrle concerned about what might happen when the Tivi Ale reopens.

“What constitutes a substantial meal? We have no idea. We’ve had no guidance from the council.” says Wehrle.

“To be honest I think it’s disgusting. It feels like they are trying to catch us out instead of supporting us. What is the difference having food in front of you rather than just a beer?”