Government deletes ‘tone deaf’ tweet to grab a drink and celebrate pubs reopening
The government has deleted a ‘tone deaf’ tweet encouraging people to celebrate the reopening of pubs on Saturday.
The HM Treasury account was met with backlash for telling people to ‘grab a drink and raise a glass’ on July 4.
Critics said it was in poor taste when the coronavirus death toll is almost at 44,000 and over 100 people are still dying each day.
Others said the messaging was irresponsible given concerns police won’t be able to cope with the huge numbers expected to flock to pubs over the weekend.
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Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan was one of many people to slam the tweet, referencing Office for National Statistic figures which suggest the true death toll is over 65,000.
He tweeted: ‘This must be the most tone-deaf tweet in history.
’65k people dead, the economy catering, millions facing unemployment.. and the Treasury wants us all to go out on the p*** & celebrate.’
Channel 4 presenter Cathy Newman also questioned the wording of the government’s tweet, saying ‘Not sure I fancy raising a glass when so many people are still dying every day’.
Another Twitter user said: ‘There’s a fine line between being grateful that people can socialise & celebrating.
‘I think that Tweet issued by the Treasury fell on the wrong side of it.’
Others branded it ‘disgusting’ and ‘disrespectful’ to families who have lost loved ones to coronavirus.
A Treasury spokesman said today: ‘We got it wrong on this and the tweet was quickly removed.’
Pubs, bars and restaurants will be allowed to reopen their doors from Saturday but they will be very different to how they were before lockdown was imposed in March and must be ‘Covid-secure’.
Protective screens, one-way systems and hand sanitsier stations must be in place and customers will have to stick to social distancing and leave their contact details with staff so they can be traced in the case of an outbreak.
Police have expressed concern about the government’s decision to ease lockdown restrictions for pubs on a Saturday, calling it a ‘perfect storm’, while health bosses have reportedly urged hospitals to plan for surges in A&E admissions similar to that of New Year’s Eve’.
There are fears that the planned easing of lockdown measures will lead to greater numbers of people drinking in smaller areas, making social distancing near impossible to uphold.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme, John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation, said: ‘To ease the lockdown – which I completely understand, businesses have to survive and the economy must grow and I accept that – but to announce this easing of lockdown on a Saturday has created almost a countdown to carnival.
‘I am deeply concerned we are going to see real big problems on that day when people are trying to get into pubs and bars and restaurants, drinking – alcohol causes an awful lot of problems for us to have to try and pick up the pieces.
‘This is on top of the frustration that people are feeling. It is a perfect storm but not in a good way, I have to say.’
The reopening of hospitality venues in England has also caused concern among experts that there could be a spike in coronavirus cases.
The government is pushing ahead with what has been dubbed ‘Super Saturday’ despite Leicester going into local lockdown and other areas seeing an increase in cases.
Although across the country the number of daily confirmed cases and deaths has been falling since the peak in April, the virus is spreading more quickly in some local areas, creating hotspots.
The places include Barnsley, Bradford, Rochdale, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Kirklees, Oldham, Rotherham, Tameside and Peterborough.
Department of Health officials told Sky News 36 other areas could be forced back into a lockdown ‘within days’ due to a rise in coronavirus.
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