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The BBC reported that the High Court ruled in favour of the government after a case was brought by Punch Taverns founder Hugh Osmond, and Sacha Lord, the night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester.
Mr Lord and Mr Osmond argued there was no justification or scientific basis for hospitality to be kept closed for five weeks, after retailers in England were allowed to serve customers indoors from mid-April. The hospitality bosses pointed to recent findings by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which suggested that the hospitality sector was associated with a relatively low risk of Covid-19 transmission, although it was slightly higher than leisure and retail.
The report said "The government has insisted the lockdown easing must be cautious if it is to be irreversible, adding that it will driven by "data and not dates."
Mr Lord said: "While this fight has always been an uphill battle... we are pleased that the case has shone a light on the hospitality sector and the unfair and unequal guidance within the recovery roadmap."
"Despite the outcome, we will continue to hold the government to account and demand evidence-based decisions, rather than those drafted without detailed analysis or based on bias or whim."
Mr Osmond, a former director of Pizza Express, said: "This case is not 'academic' for an industry that is losing £200m every day it remains closed, for the over three million people who work in our industry, or for the tens of thousands of businesses, suppliers, landlords and contractors forced into bankruptcy by Government measures."
A UK government spokesperson said: "Our roadmap sets out a cautious approach to easing restrictions, based on the best scientific evidence available at the time. We published a full range of scientific papers alongside it, on 22 February."
"It is widely acknowledged that the risk of transmission outdoors is significantly less than indoors, which is why businesses have already been able to open in some outdoor settings, ahead of indoor hospitality later this month," they said.
Source: BBC News