No more scotch eggs with your beer, alfresco dining and other things to be (cautiously) optimistic about

The rule requiring wet businesses to serve a 'substantial meal' with all alcoholic drinks is set to be scrapped when restrictions are eased in England, as the government prepares to announce its roadmap out of lockdown on February 22nd.

The Times reports that shortly after schools reopen - with a tentative date set on March 8th - rules on outdoor socialising will be eased, and outdoor markets could be reopened before high street shops. 

The rule which required that hospitality businesses serve a substantial meal with any alcoholic drinks confused patrons and ministers alike, and led to the needlessly elongated debate over whether or not a scotch egg constitutes a substantial meal.

The news follows on a very tentatively optimistic week from the Prime Minister, as the vaccine rollout is going much faster than anticipated, with most over 50s to be vaccinated by May 6th; there is increasing evidence that it will also head curb the spread of the virus; that it is long-lasting and that it will be effective against new variants.

Last week Boris Johnson suggested that English citizens may see the restrictions on movement, social interactions and business closures lifted as a unit, the Prime Minister has suggested, rather than through the adoption of another tier system.

On a visit to West Yorkshire, Boris Johnson expressed optimism about people in England being able to have a summer holiday this year if the coronavirus can be kept under control.

Additionally, we may see the back of the tiered system, as, he explained, the new variant is spread more evenly throughout the nation. 

Adopting a cautious approach and avoiding any promises, he said: "If you look at the way the new variant has taken off across the country, it's a pretty national phenomenon.

"The charts I see, we're all sort of moving pretty much in the same sort of way, I mean there are a few discrepancies, a few differences, so it may be that we will go for a national approach but there may be an advantage still in some regional differentiation as well."

The Prime Minister did however promise to publish a roadmap out of lockdown on February 22, which should include dates for non-essential shops and hospitality businesses, and, he said, will allow Britons to "begin steadily to reclaim our lives."

There is still cause to withold excitement, however, as The Telegraph reported on the weekend Britain may not be able to scrap social distancing rules this year, unless a vaccine proves to be 85 per cent effective at stopping transmission of coronavirus as well as severe illness.

"I don't want to give too much concrete by way of dates for our summer holidays. I am optimistic - I understand the reasons for being optimistic - but some things have got to go right," he said.

"The vaccine programme has got to continue to be successful. We have got to make sure we don't get thrown off course by new variants, we have got to make sure that we continue to keep the disease under control and the level of infections come down."