A sketch of the week
A slight change in tack for this week’s ‘A sketch of the week’ as I will focus on just one topic, that which has dominated the headlines over the past seven days (and beyond) and will no-doubt continue to do so this week – the reopening of pubs.
If only those four words told the whole story. But, of course, the return of this liberty is to cost the handing in of other liberties. Want to go to the pub? You’ll have to tell us where you live and how you can be contacted. Think you can pretend to sign in to the NHS Test and Trace app and then continue with your pint? Think again! Pub staff must look at customers' mobile phone screens to make sure that they have registered, according to new Government guidelines.
But doesn’t this go against the whole point of a trip to the pub – to socialise with friends and family, and to unwind? As I wrote for Lockdown Sceptics this week, it’s as if the authorities are trying to make the experience of going to the pub as unpleasant as possible to deliver the final nail in the coffin of the pub trade.
Plus, with snow, sleet and single-digit temperatures expected across much of the country today and for the rest of the week, isn’t it likely that most people just won’t bother going to the pub at all, given the ban on hospitality indoors. (Incidentally, this ban has prevented a great many pubs even from partially reopening since so many venues just don’t have enough outdoor seating.) It’s much less hassle – and far warmer – to invite friends over for a pint or two in the living room.
On the point of vaccine passports (which William Clouston writes passionately against here): even if these are not required in hospitality settings just yet, it seems likely that they will pop up in the near future – just when we think it’s all over.
Anyway, that’s enough from me. Here is the latest by Crid.
See all of Crid’s cartoons here, and follow him on Twitter (@CridCartoons) to keep up with his latest work.
