A DISH ON RISH
Brits to get up to £10 off restaurant food bill as Chancellor serves up £30billion to rescue economy
ALL Brits will be given up to £10 off their food bill at pubs and restaurants next month as part of a £30billion spree to rescue the economy.
Rishi Sunak today unveiled an unprecedented £500million meal deal funded by the Government.
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It will give everyone who dines out on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday in August half-price grub.
The discount, which will also apply to non-alcoholic drinks, will be capped at £10 per head under the Eat Out to Help Out programme launched by the Chancellor — dubbed “Rishi Dishi” over the policy.
And in his “mini-Budget” to respond to the economic fallout from coronavirus, Mr Sunak also slashed VAT by 75 per cent for the hospitality sector.
Together, the two measures will slash the cost of a Big Mac Meal from £5.29 to just £2.25.
In line with our Bounce Back Britain campaign, they are designed to get more Brits out spending, trigger economic activity and boost morale.
VAT will fall from 20 per cent to five per cent on food, accommodation and attractions from next Wednesday until January 2021.
Mr Sunak told businesses to pass on the VAT savings to customers to ensure Brits can enjoy cheaper staycations and days out for the rest of the year.
The two major giveaways formed part of a £30billion spending splurge unveiled by Mr Sunak — on top of the £160billion already spent on the Government’s support packages.
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Another £123billion has been put aside for the tax deferral schemes and business loans.
In total, it will take government borrowing to £350billion this year — roughly ten per cent of GDP.
Mr Sunak, who later visited a Wagamama restaurant at the Royal Festival Hall in central London and served some customers their lunch, promised he would put the public finances back on a “sustainable footing” after the crisis was over.
But the Government would do what it takes to help the economy as he warned of “profound economic challenges” ahead.
Today’s statement was the second of three phases of the economic recovery plan.
The first covered measures such as the furlough scheme.
The third phase will come in the autumn when Mr Sunak will set out longer-term measures and possibly spell out ways the Government intends to pay for the hundreds of billions of spending during the virus crisis.
Three cheers for the Chancellor!
By Lisa Minot, The Sun Travel Editor
With tourism contributing £12billion to the UK economy every year, and with two million workers depending on it, this is a great start to help Britain bounce back.
The chance to take a staycation for less will be a blessed silver lining to the coronavirus cloud.
But his predecessor Sajid Javid warned him in the Commons he must rein in spending later this year.
The 50 per cent discount on meals, including for kids, can be used unlimited times — so diners can enjoy it as many times as they like each week of August.
It will cost roughly £½billion but will help 1.8million jobs and affect 120,000 businesses, the Treasury says.
Restaurants, bars, cafes and other establishments suffering from smaller customer numbers will get a much-needed lift.
Businesses can register through a website, open next Monday, and claim the money back at the end of each week — with it in their bank account within five working days.
JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin said the pubs industry was “extremely grateful” for the financial support.
Pizza Express managing director Zoe Bowley added: “We are hopeful that these measures will encourage people to eat out again as we reopen our doors in the coming weeks.”
But Tim Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, criticised the plans.
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He said: “This looks like the mother and father of bogoffs and a green light to promote any old junk menu that the participating restaurant feels it can get away with.”
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And DUP MP Sammy Wilson quipped: “I think the clothes shops might welcome it as well, as once we’ve eaten our way through a month’s half-priced meals, we might all be visiting them.”
Shares in restaurant companies moved higher following the announcement.
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Readers' verdicts
THE HOUSEHUNTERS
DELIGHTED house buyers Matt D’Souza and partner Grace Strang will save £15,000 following the decision to axe stamp duty until next March.
Matt and Grace, both 31, faced paying five per cent on a £500,000 home in Beckenham, South London.
Matt said: “Happy days. We won’t have to save for home improvements now.”
THE UNEMPLOYED TEEN
JOB-hunter Ruben Mathiason, 18, has been applying for work since lockdown began, but has had no replies.
He believes the Government’s plan to get good jobs for 16 to 24-year-olds will help.
Ruben, right, of Hackney, East London, is waiting for A-level results.
He said: “The Kickstart scheme is a good move and hopefully it’ll help.”
THE PUB LANDLORD
LANDLORD George Kemp said slashing VAT to five per cent and helping fund meals was “an incredible deal for us”.
George, 63, wife Andrea, below, and daughter Rebecca, 30, run The Lifeboat Inn at Maryport, Cumbria.
George said: “This is what the hospitality trade needed as we’ve taken a battering. I think Rishi Sunak is a clever lad.”
Readers' verdicts
THE JOBHUNTER
LUCY Johnstone lost her job in sales just before the pandemic struck and has spent lockdown looking for work.
Lucy, right, from Leeds, said: “Rishi Sunak has done a good job but hasn’t gone far enough with proposals.
“He said he wanted to help older workers.
“I’m 32 and worry firms will just take on under-25s. I feel left out.”
THE GUESTHOUSE OWNERS
IMPRESSED Garry and Penny Owen welcomed the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and will make use of it at their 18-room Gleneagles Guesthouse and Tearoom.
Garry, 62, whose missus, 60, delivered afternoon teas in lockdown, said: “It’ll be a help.”
He said the VAT cut would give them money to keep staff on during winter in Southend, Essex.
THE CARAVAN PARK OWNER
ALFIE Best, 50, who owns six caravan holiday parks, believes the Chancellor has not done enough for the business.
The boss of Wyldecrest Parks said: “The Government has decided to help restaurants with incentives but it would have been fairer for parks like ours to receive some sort of subsidies for visitors taking staycations this summer.”
THE SUN SAYS
RISHI Sunak’s latest rescue is a staggering £30billion package of giveaways which will go down a treat with Sun readers.
A six-month 75 per cent cut in VAT on food from restaurants and takeaways, on hotels and caravan sites, on theme parks and cinemas.
Even more incredibly, Eat Out to Help Out vouchers for half-price restaurant meals in August.
These aren’t just good news for families’ finances, and employees who need their firms to stay afloat.
They are an attempt to encourage Britain to venture back out, to convince a public still alarmingly content to hide at home from even the tiniest risk of Covid.
We desperately hope the Chancellor succeeds, though discount dinners may not be enough, welcome as they are.
The main point of this mini-Budget, though, was to directly save as many jobs as possible.
The £1,000-a-head inducement to re-employ furloughed staff is wellintentioned, but wide open to abuse.
Many firms will pocket the bung even though they always intended to re-employ workers, or already have. Others will do so, keep staff till the end of January as per the rules, then fire them.
Mr Sunak’s plan to pay young people’s wages for six months hoping they will be taken on permanently is another noble idea. Time will tell if it works.
We suspect even stronger measures — tax cuts or a reduction in employers’ National Insurance — will be needed.
The stamp duty cut will bring joy to those moving, or thinking of it. Indeed we wonder why it isn’t scrapped permanently. But it won’t help young renters.
Responding instantly to a Budget in the Commons is tough, especially when a Tory Chancellor treads all over your turf. Even so, Labour’s shadow chancellor looked woefully out of her depth.
The scale of Mr Sunak’s bailouts is monumental. That didn’t stop Annaliese Dodds furiously reciting her preprepared script demanding yet more.
It is nuts to pretend the Tories have not done their best and spent mind-blowing sums to keep people in work.
The more valid criticism, ours too, is whether it can work.
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Rishi has ridden to the rescue again - now we need to get out there and spend
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