Sunak’s hospitality bailout is only enough for now, just

The 1bn support package merely plays catch-up with the current stealth lockdown'. More may well be needed - and soon

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It's something. The chancellor's Omicron support package for the hospitality sector is worth 1bn, enough for Rishi Sunak to claim he listened to the cries of distress from pubs, restaurants and leisure businesses and acted. And, to be fair to him, there was applause from the main industry lobby groups. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, called it a generous package".

It is hard, though, to escape the sense that the measures could quickly be overtaken by events. This is a limited package designed merely to catch up with the current stealth lockdown" environment, meaning consumers' sensible decision to tone down their partying. It would not be sufficient to cope with a ramping up of restrictions beyond plan B.