“Those who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed have never left lockdown.”

Daisy Cooper MP has been pressing the Government to buy stocks of a drug that would help protect immune suppressed people from suffering with COVID-19.

In a clinical trial in adults, the drug named Evusheld was found to reduce the risk of developing symptomatic Covid-19 by 77%, with protection from the virus continuing for at least six months following a single dose.

Last week in Parliament, Daisy spoke in a debate to highlight the plight of immune compromised people, and urged the Government to buy the drug.

She said: “Those who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed have never left lockdown. They can’t benefit from the vaccines that the rest of us have enjoyed. It is a huge health inequality in our country that all of us can benefit from vaccines but those who cannot are not being given access to this life-saving drug.”

She added that the Government needs to act quickly to buy the drug, as following its approval from the European Medicines Agency, the window within which there is still manufacturing capacity and the UK can place an order is shrinking fast.

These concerns were also laid out in a letter that Daisy wrote to the health minister, in which she reiterated the urgency with which the government should buy stocks of Evusheld.

Fiona Loud, policy director of Kidney Care UK and also a St Albans resident, said: “We were encouraged by the first approval of Evusheld, and yet disheartened by the fact that it is still not yet available in the UK.

“With the current very high rates of Covid-19 infection, the withdrawal of free testing and infection control measures, anxiety is rising again particularly in groups who are more likely to catch Covid-19 and more likely to die if they do so.

“People with kidney disease continue to be at high risk from Covid-19 because of their immunosuppression or their condition and are keen to get all the protection they can, so effective preventative treatments are needed now to support them if they are to feel safe and be able to live with Covid-19.”

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“Community pharmacies can play a critical role in getting boosters into arms in the coming weeks, and in the future too.”

A St Albans pharmacy has recently started offering Covid-19 vaccinations at its premises after months of administrative delays prevented it and other pharmacies across the country from becoming vaccination centres sooner.

Verulam Pharmacy first applied to become a vaccination centre more than a year ago, in December 2020, only to be rejected with no reason given. After applying a second time in July 2021, the rejection given to the pharmacy said that the government had “enough capacity”.

After being made aware of this problem by the pharmacy, St Albans MP Daisy Cooper exposed nationwide low approval rates and long delays in December 2021 in a Parliamentary written question.

The answer to Daisy’s question, provided by the vaccines minister Maggie Throup, revealed that by the end of September 2021, fewer than one third of the 4,733 pharmacies in England that applied to take part in the booster vaccination programme were accepted. Of these, just 1,336 community pharmacy vaccination sites were actively providing the service as of 3rd December. 

It also revealed that as of December 2021, on average pharmacies were having to wait more than six weeks for applications to be approved by NHS England.

Dixit Patel, Pharmacy Manager at Verulam Pharmacy, said: “I’m really pleased that we can now finally join in with helping the booster roll-out – and our walk-in sessions are already proving really popular.

“It was frustrating to have our applications to become a vaccination centre rejected, particularly when walk-in clinics in villages have seen big queues and GPs were roped into help, putting extra strain on local surgeries. The decisions on which pharmacies to approve, to become Covid vaccination centres, seemed completely arbitrary – some pharmacies that were granted centre status are smaller and have less capacity than Verulam Pharmacy.

“But regardless of size, all community pharmacies are extremely well-placed to offer vaccinations, and I’m glad that Daisy’s efforts have helped raise awareness of the delays and difficulties that many of us have been facing.”

Daisy Cooper MP said: “Community pharmacies can play a critical role in getting boosters into arms in the coming weeks, and in the future too.

“So it is staggering that some pharmacies applied several times to help provide booster jabs only to be rejected.

“Just under 25% of people eligible across Hertfordshire and west Essex have yet to have their booster vaccination, so it’s vital that every pharmacy that has applied in the past to become a vaccination centre is given an opportunity to take part in this critical national effort.”

Gareth Jones, Director of External Affairs at the National Pharmacy Association, which has its headquarters in St Albans, said: “Pharmacies have been central to the Covid vaccination programme. Our partnership with the NHS on vaccinations has protected many millions of people, and everyone from local NHS teams to the pharmacists and our brilliant volunteers have been working very hard. 

“Many more pharmacies have offered to help but still await approval. While sensible steps have been taken to increase capacity in the current pharmacy sites, it would be a massive own-goal to overlook the many other pharmacies wanting to join this great national effort.”

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“In short, a proper plan, properly funded, will allow as many children as possible to attend school safely without undoing the sacrifices that the British people have made.”

Daisy Cooper MP is calling on the Government to create a ‘rapid task force’ that would keep schools open and Covid-secure. 

Currently, around 375,000 pupils – or one in 20 – are out of school for Covid-related reasons, the highest rate since schools fully reopened in March this year. Most of these children have not tested positive but are within ‘bubbles’ sent home to self-isolate.

The MP spoke about this issue in the House of Commons on Tuesday 29th June and further highlighted the matter in a letter to education secretary Gavin Williamson. Both times, she called on the government to “urgently establish a rapid task force, with a mandate to keep schools open safely.”

Daisy said that reports that the Government might stop bubbling and self-isolations altogether were “alarming”, saying: “In that situation, transmission could go through the roof, opening up the whole country to the risk of new variants.”

The task force, she said, would be asked to develop guidance by the end of July and give school leaders sufficient time at the start of the autumn term to ensure measure are in place at the start of September, before pupils return.

Daisy added: “The rapid task force should consider a number of issues the Liberal Democrats have raised previously, including the need for proper ventilation within school settings; as well as regular testing, contact tracing, face coverings and a review of bubble sizes to make them as small as possible.

“In short, a proper plan, properly funded, will allow as many children as possible to attend school safely without undoing the sacrifices that the British people have made.

“I understand that the Association of Directors of Public Health has separately already indicated that it wants to see a root-and-branch review of current measures to develop a plan for what Covid-secure schools look like with the Delta variant.”

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“This is a step in the right direction towards more people in St Albans being vaccinated at a location in the city, instead of being redirected to a hub miles away.”

The Government’s minister for vaccine deployment has pledged to monitor the supply to St Albans after Daisy Cooper MP secured a meeting with him and local GPs running the Batchwood Hall vaccination centre. 

Nadhim Zahawi, the Minister in charge of the rollout, undertook to monitor vaccine supplies to Batchwood Hall in St Albans after GPs report a slump to one-third of capacity.

He also agreed to nominate Batchwood Hall as a possible pilot site to trial a new booking system designed to break down silos between GP-led centres and NHS vaccination hubs.  

Daisy Cooper MP secured the virtual meeting with the minister, along with Dr Helen McAndrew and Dr Mike Walton, joint clinical leads at Batchwood Hall.

Last month, the Batchwood GP-led service, was commended by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, for being one of the best-performing vaccination sites in the country. But shortly after supply dwindled, forcing it to fall behind other areas.

The clinical team raised concerns that the centre, which serves nine St Albans GP practices¹ and a population of about 110,000 people, was only receiving one-third of the doses appropriate for its size.

They told the minister they were aware that other GP-led groups of a similar size were receiving much larger supplies, but they had not received a satisfactory reason why or a correction of the deficit.

They reported that St Albans residents were having to attend mass vaccination sites against their wishes because of the lack of supplies to Batchwood, and attempts to obtain adequate amounts or arrange for distribution to be re-routed from NHS mass vaccination centres or pharmacies had proved impossible.

The GPs emphasised that patients needed to receive their first and second jabs at the same venue. This was to ensure the right amount and type of vaccine was sent to the right location at the right time to comply with the 12-week dosing schedule and the correct roll-out of a second dose to each individual.

They also warned that the NHS’s national booking system was allowing patients to arrange their second jab at an alternative centre, causing logistical chaos and wasting valuable clinical and administrative time chasing patients who had not responded to invites for their second dose, only to find they’d received an appointment elsewhere.

Nadhim Zahawi then disclosed that plans are being made to streamline the dual booking systems, where currently mass vaccination centres use the NHS national booking system and GP services, access their own patient records. GP-led centres will be encouraged to migrate to the NHS system.

While the Batchwood Hall team welcomed the move, they were concerned they would be unable to monitor trends or retrieve useful information about their patients. They said they favoured a hybrid model instead, and volunteered Batchwood to be part of a national trial , which the minister agreed to support.

Dr Mike Walton said: “We understand that second dose supply has been secured and this is comforting for those awaiting their second vaccine, and that first dose supply will be reduced across the UK in April. But we’d welcome an investigation into why the supply of vaccine to our GP group has not reflected our size.

“We could definitely benefit from a more streamlined system that reduces the duplication of work and public confusion, and most importantly one that listens to local experts about how best to ensure that as many people as possible receive the life-saving vaccine in the safest and most efficient way.

“This is not always through the provision of additional sites but using established and popular sites to their capacity.”

Daisy Cooper MP said: “Everyone working at the Batchwood centre has done a fantastic job, despite frustrations with supply and logistics.

“After weeks of pursuing this issue, I was pleased to secure a meeting with the Minister so he could hear directly from the GPs working on the frontline of the vaccination effort.

“This is a step in the right direction towards more people in St Albans being vaccinated at a location in the city, instead of being redirected to a hub miles away.”

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“If frontline workers are unable to work because they put their lives and livelihood on the line to keep the country going, it’s only right and fair and proper that they are rewarded with a compensation package.”

Daisy Cooper MP is urging the Government to recognise long-Covid as an occupational disease and to launch a compensation scheme for frontline workers living with the condition.

The MP for St Albans has joined politicians from seven UK political parties in calling for a scheme that would mirror the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme to support frontline NHS, social care and key workers such as teachers, who have contracted Covid-19 while responding to the pandemic and are now unable to return to work because of the long-term debilitating effects.

In a letter to the prime minister, the cross-party group warns that long-Covid has become “the hidden health crisis of the pandemic”, with one in ten of the 3.9 million people who have tested positive for Covid-19 likely to suffer “for many months, if not years, to come”.  

The letterfrom 65 MPs and peers asks the prime minister to “grant frontline and key workers the recognition, compensation and support that they and their families need and deserve”, after the Government called on them to “support our country in our time of need”.

The parliamentarians describe frontline and key workers as the “true heroes of the pandemic” and criticise the Government’s delay in launching the scheme, saying it is a “dereliction of duty and amounts to abandoning the very people to whom we owe the most”.

The cross-party group, which is supported by the British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union and professional body for doctors in the UK, is also calling on the Government to invest in research to better understand the effects of long Covid.

And it wants a national register to be launched to count and publish the number of people living with long-Covid on a daily basis, as is done with hospital admissions and deaths.

Daisy Cooper MP said: “The BMA has seen the scale of the problem here – it’s going to be huge and it’s going to have a long-term impact on demand for the NHS, and on the health of our workforce and how the economy functions.

“A group of MPs, including myself, wrote to the Government as long ago as last August to say that we’d received evidence about long-Covid and we asked for it to be recognised as an occupational disease, meaning employees and their dependants are entitled to protection and compensation should they acquire Covid-19 in the course of their employment.

“It’s hugely frustrating that, yet again, the Government is behind the curve, when this has already been done in France, Germany, Belgium and other countries. Here we are many months on and the Government is still not recognising it as an issue and is still not taking action.

“If frontline workers are unable to work because they put their lives and livelihood on the line to keep the country going, it’s only right and fair and proper that they are rewarded with a compensation package.”

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“Our local GPs totally deserve this national recognition for their brilliant work in getting the Batchwood centre up and running. I saw for myself the amazing work of the GPs, primary care staff and many community volunteers in setting up this new service at incredible speed. They have all done us proud.”

Daisy Cooper MP has joined Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, in thanking and congratulating ‘Club Batchwood’ for being one of the best-performing vaccination centres in Britain.

The centre was set up by a group of eight St Albans GP surgeries at the Batchwood Hall nightclub venue, one of the ‘first wave’ of inoculation hubs in the country and among the first to vaccinate all over-80s.

The speed of the vaccine roll-out and the “fantastic efforts” of the Batchwood centre were highlighted in a letter to Daisy Cooper from Matt Hancock.

“This is down to the tireless efforts of all those involved, especially those on the ground in our communities, from nurses, to GPs, to pharmacies, to volunteers, and so many more,” wrote the secretary of state.

“It’s incredible to see this community spirit, as people pull together to lead us collectively out of the pandemic.”

Among the volunteers at Batchwood Hall were up to a dozen local Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners, who answered a last-minute call for help to clean and prepare the centre and look after patients turning up for their jabs.

When long queues formed early on due to a network failure, Daisy Cooper MP leapt into action to press BT to install a new wi-fi system, while Batchwood campaigner Sinead Howland was able to source 14 laptops from generous donors so centre staff could enter patient data. A further 12 computers were later offered to families through the Sopwell Community Trust to help with home-schooling.

And when it emerged that Batchwood was only receiving enough vaccine to open two days a week, Daisy Cooper requested that the prime minister intervene personally to ensure GPs were receiving a larger and more consistent supply of vaccine.

Daisy Cooper MP said: “Our local GPs totally deserve this national recognition for their brilliant work in getting the Batchwood centre up and running. I saw for myself the amazing work of the GPs, primary care staff and many community volunteers in setting up this new service at incredible speed. They have all done us proud.

“I am also continuing to bang the drum about needing more vaccine supply so Batchwood can open for more than two days a week.”

Councillor Chris White, Lib Dem leader of St Albans District Council, said:
“I’m pleased the district council was able to give its support – not just in providing the building but also with the speedy work in setting up the centre.

“I’m also proud of the tremendous effort Liberal Democrat councillors and activists have put in at Batchwood, and at other centres in Harpenden and throughout the district.”

Speaking on behalf of the Batchwood GPs team, joint clinical lead Dr Helen McAndrew said: “We’re pleased to see the secretary of state recognising the role of primary care in delivering this critical public health service to our community.

“Our success is down to the hard work, collaboration and can-do attitude of all eight general practices, the local district council, community volunteers and other organisations, including businesses who have donated much-needed supplies in order to keep our momentum going.

“For us this is not just our job and our patients – it’s about our community and our home, our family and our friends.”

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“Without doubt, the pandemic’s impact on the disabled has been absolutely catastrophic. During the lockdown period, almost seven out of 10 people with learning difficulties had their care packages reduced or cut completely, which the Disability Law Service says is illegal.”

Daisy Cooper MP has called on the Government to include more help for disabled people and their families in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The MP for St Albans was speaking during a debate in Parliament to highlight the need for greater support for the UK’s 14 million disabled people – the country’s largest minority.

“Without doubt, the pandemic’s impact on the disabled has been absolutely catastrophic,” Daisy told MPs. “During the lockdown period, almost seven out of 10 people with learning difficulties had their care packages reduced or cut completely, which the Disability Law Service says is illegal.”

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have been “spectacularly disadvantaged by the pandemic” and the effect on home schooling for them and their families was huge, she said.

With reports that up to one in five SEND children are still absent from schools due to infection control, timetables and transport, Daisy called on the Government to produce a dedicated plan to deliver the education resources “they deserve and to which they are entitled”.

She said: “Parents and families are still telling me that they’re struggling to get the laptops and specialist equipment they need. When will the Government get that much-needed kit to every single child, so they have a fighting chance to learn during Covid?”

Daisy also called on the Government to pass a law empowering all employers to look at retaining those workers with disabilities who are threatened by redundancy during the looming economic downturn.

“As we head into a recession with the prospect of job losses it’s vital that those disabled people who are in jobs can be kept in them, because it’s so much harder for disabled people and all those with protected characteristics to get into the workplace in the first instance.”

And she warned that those employed in the UK’s “world-leading disability creative arts sector” are in particular danger of “disappearing from public view.

“Many of its members fall into a similar category to ExcludedUK, with freelancers having received absolutely no Government support at all,” she said. “Without help, these disabled creatives could completely disappear from our screens, theatres and comedy circuits. They could become invisible in our public realm and debate.”

Daisy urged fellow MPs to “lead by example” and to press the Government to re-establish the access to elected office fund for disabled people.

“There is a shocking lack of disabled voices in the House of Commons, and I say that as an MP with a hidden disability.

“The entry cost for many disabled MPs is far too high and we need a proper fund to be established so that disabled candidates of all political persuasions have the opportunity to stand for election and to represent their communities.”

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“The coronavirus crisis is leaving thousands of families facing financial uncertainty. Further financial support must be agreed to ensure no one is left behind.”

Daisy Cooper MP is urging the Government to bring forward bespoke packages of support for key sectors, such as hospitality, or face a surge in job losses in St Albans.

The Liberal Democrat MP for St Albans warns that thousands of families face “financial uncertainty” and is calling for the Government to do more.

According to government statistics for May, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in St Albans has more than doubled since lockdown began in March, with 3,005 actual claimants, an increase of 1,815 on March and 1,045 since April. Of those, there were 455 aged 18 to 24, equivalent to 15% of the total.

Other data showed that 10,600 people in St Albans have benefited from the job retention scheme to the end of May, out of a working-age population of 61,814. They also show a further 3,700 are receiving financial support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, following a successful campaign by the Liberal Democrats to extend the original scheme by a further three months.

That means that more than one in four St Albans residents are currently using the furlough scheme, the self-employed scheme or receiving unemployment benefit.

Daisy points out that many self-employed people are still excluded from this support, including those who became self-employed since April 2019, and is calling on the Government to expand the scheme to cover them too.

Daisy said: “The coronavirus crisis is leaving thousands of families facing financial uncertainty. Further financial support must be agreed to ensure no one is left behind.

“There must be an increase in statutory sick pay to £220 a week to ensure everyone who needs to self-isolate can, knowing that they don’t have to choose between their health and their income.

“Also, the furlough scheme continues to be a lifeline for many, but I worry what will happen to people here in St Albans who rely on furlough support if it ends before it’s safe to go back to work, or when businesses need to re-open below capacity or in a phased way.

“And Ministers must extend support to the millions of people who are still excluded from the existing schemes, such as ’no rights employees’ – freelances who are taxed at source like an employee but who currently receive no financial support at all, and those who recently became self-employed, and those between jobs and more.

“The big danger is that many parts of our economy will simply not be back up to speed by October. The Government must bring forward bespoke packages of support for the industries most affected, to save jobs and prevent mass unemployment.”

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“In mid-March, the Chancellor said that no one would be left behind, but almost two months have passed and these workers have been offered no help. I’m calling on him to come up with an urgent solution to relieve the hardship they’re experiencing, as he’s been able to do for so many others.”

Daisy Cooper MP is demanding financial support for a group of #ForgottenFreelances who have fallen through the cracks of the Chancellor’s Covid-19 aid packages – particularly those who have a combination of PAYE and other income.

The key group of freelances and self-employed, also known as “zero-rights employees”, typically work shifts for newspapers, broadcasters, magazines and publishers.

Daisy has now joined forces with a cross-party group of MPs and the National Union of Journalists to call for urgent action to end the anomaly that is leaving so-called “casual” workers in the creative industries in dire financial straits.

In a letter to the Chancellor, they point out the anomaly whereby freelances remain self-employed for the purposes of employment law, with no protection of employment rights such as sick pay or maternity leave, yet are forced to pay tax and national insurance like an employee.

Fight for financial support

As a result, they are neither being furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) nor eligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

Daisy’s fight for financial support during the Covid-19 crisis for freelances, agency workers and small businesses in Britain’s creative industries kicked off in April when she led a cross-party group of 130 parliamentarians to lobby the chancellor.

And in May, she and her Liberal Democrat colleagues called on the Government to extend income support payments to the self-employed, a move that culminated in an extension of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) for a further three months.

Daisy, who is the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), said: “These workers are facing financial ruin. Many have been working shifts for one or more companies to establish their career. Parents, either with young families or with older children, often particularly need the flexibility this kind of work offers.

“It’s not fair or right that they are being excluded from the financial support being made available to everyone else.

“In mid-March, the Chancellor said that no one would be left behind, but almost two months have passed and these workers have been offered no help. I’m calling on him to come up with an urgent solution to relieve the hardship they’re experiencing, as he’s been able to do for so many others.”

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“Ministers must act urgently to support UK pubs through the Covid-19 crisis, or risk leaving a gaping hole in communities across the UK and the loss of a wonderful part of our heritage.”

Daisy Cooper MP is leading a cross-party call to protect pubs in the face of the “unique combination of challenges” created by the Covid-19 crisis.

Daisy has rallied MPs from the Tory, Labour, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green parties to call on government ministers to ensure pubs – a “cornerstone of British culture” – are in a position to re-open once social distancing measures are eased. 

The group have written to the chancellor of the exchequer to demand bespoke support for the industry, including calls to: 

• Scrap the £51,000 Rateable Value cap for pubs, allowing pubs to access the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.
• Stop pubco landlords from charging rent from their tenants through the crisis.
• Extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for the hospitality sector for the duration of social distancing measures and adopt a tailored approach to taper down the scheme in line with the ability of pubs to re-open on a viable basis.

Daisy said: “Pubs are an iconic part of our social and economic fabric, and this is especially true here in St Albans. They are the hub of many communities and play a key role in the wider economy, employing nearly half a million people directly and supporting so many other jobs – not least in brewing and entertainment. 

“Right now, many pubs in St Albans and around the country are saddled with enormous rents, payable despite the fact that their doors are closed. On top of this, many are unable to access government grants because they’re based on the broken business rates system. They are on a financial precipice. 

“The Chancellor must take radical action to prevent our beloved pubs from permanently closing their doors. He must scrap the unfair rates cap that prevents so many pubs from accessing vital funds, and prevent pubco landlords from charging exorbitant rates to their tenants whilst they are unable to open their premises. 

“Longer term, we are calling for wholesale reform of the broken business rates system, which has been exposed as completely unfit for purpose.  

“Ministers must act urgently to support UK pubs through the Covid-19 crisis, or risk leaving a gaping hole in communities across the UK and the loss of a wonderful part of our heritage.”

Tom Stainer, chief executive at Camra, the Campaign for Real Ale, said: 
“We welcome this letter, which highlights vital issues facing pubs during the Covid-19 lockdown. It has been estimated that up 19,000 pubs are now at risk of permanent closure as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, which also means that jobs are on the line, and consumers stand to lose out on the social and wellbeing benefits of pub going.

“Up to 20% of pubs may not be eligible for grant support due to their high rateable value – but that doesn’t mean they are better able than smaller pubs to weather this storm, so it’s imperative that the grant scheme is extended to offer them support.

“Camra has also called for pub companies to cancel rent for tenants and is seeking assurances that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be available to pubs and brewers until the end of social distancing measures. We’re delighted to see MPs doing the same and applaud their efforts – hopefully, the Government will listen.”   

The full text of the letter to the Chancellor follows:

Dear Chancellor,

We are writing to you to highlight the plight of the UK pub industry, which has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Pubs directly employ 457,000 people across the country, in addition to supporting the jobs and income of their many suppliers, brewers and entertainers.

Pubs face a unique combination of challenges: they are the least likely to be able to offer their products for delivery or online, they are highly dependent on property, and any continuation of social distancing measures are likely to make it difficult or impossible in many cases to re-open or operate on a scale that breaks even. Pubs have also been identified by the government as being amongst the last businesses that will be allowed to re-open.

Five of the six biggest pubco landlords are still charging commercial rent to their tenant publicans: Star Pubs and Bars (Heineken), Punch Taverns, Greene King, Marston’s, EI Group (Stonegate Pubs), even though they cannot trade.  Unlike in a normal commercial lease, these tenants must often operate their businesses in the style dictated by their landlord. We fully support the #NoPubNoRent campaign endorsed by CAMRA and the British Pub Confederation.

Additionally, many pubs have a rateable value greater than the £51,000 cap applied to the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund eligibility; despite being small businesses they are ineligible for support. The broken business rates system and flawed valuations, that have penalised pubs for years, are now preventing them from accessing help when they need it most.

With pubs to be among the last businesses to open, and furthermore amongst the hardest hit by any social distancing measures, we are calling on you to take the following urgent action to protect British pubs and jobs:

• Scrap the arbitrary £51,000 Rateable Value cap for pubs so that they can access the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund 
• Extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for the hospitality sector for the duration of social distancing measures and adopt a tailored approach for pubs so that the scheme can be tapered down in line with the ability of groups or types of pubs to re-open on a viable basis 
• Stop the pubco landlords from charging rent to their tenants – if pubs are not allowed to operate, they should not have to pay rent.

Not only major employers, pubs are a cornerstone of British life and culture, and need urgent tailored support to survive this crisis.

Yours sincerely

Daisy Cooper MP

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