Sacha Lord to challenge hospitality reopening date

Lord has confirmed he is currently in talks with his legal team regarding the lack of evidence to justify the delayed reopening. 

It comes after it was revealed that the Government was forced to drop its ‘substantial meal' rule following a successful legal challenge by Lord against Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Judges in the case​​ ruled that the restriction imposed on wet-led pubs during England's tiered lockdown system last year​​ was 'arguably discriminatory' towards certain sections of society.

 "This is a landmark victory for the hospitality industry. We are pleased with this judgment and that the court case compelled the government to remove the substantial meal requirement in their recent roadmap," said Lord.

"We have continually stated that this measure actively discriminates against, and unfairly impacts, the poorest and most disadvantaged sectors of our society, and was lacking in scientific evidence to support it.

"We will continue to work with those most affected across the night-time economy and hospitality sectors to ensure all measures imposed on the industries going forward are fair, not only to the operators and businesses struggling to survive, but to the general public.

"My legal team and I are already in discussions regarding the lack of evidence to justify the delay of the reopening of hospitality compared with non-essential retail and this is an area we will be updating on in the weeks to come."

Lord added that he would donate all court costs recovered from the Health Secretary evenly between Hospitality Action and the Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity.