When pubs re-open, the 'substantial meal' rule will be dropped

One of the things many of us are missing the most from pre-lockdown times is being able to go to the pub. Whilst it sucks that we have to give that a miss for the time being, there will be a point where it'll be safe for pubs to open again. When that happens, there are strong rumours that the controversial 'substantial meal' rule for ordering drinks will be dropped.

This news comes from a report by The Times, which claims that after the third national lockdown is lifted (currently planned to be in March, although that could be pushed back to later in the year if COVID cases rise in the intervening period) a number of COVID-19 related policies will also get the axe. One of those policies that is potentially facing the axe is the 'substantial meal' rule. The 'substantial meal' rule applies to pubs and restaurants that sever alcohol which operate in tier two or tier three areas and specifies that those establishments are only allowed to be open if they serve a so-called 'substantial meal' along with alcohol.

The definition of what exactly is a substantial meal is something that has become a point of contention for many people. Some have wondered if single portions of items such as Scotch eggs or portions of chips counted as a 'substantial meal'. The fact that the government failed to provide any clear guidelines on what a 'substantial meal' should count as and instead relied on local councils to decide what is and what isn't a 'substantial meal' didn't exactly help anything either. Different councils had different ideas of what a 'substantial meal' was, causing a huge amount of confusion and disparity between different councils in the same part of the country. One of the most obvious places this happened was Greater London, where all 32 boroughs had different definitions on what counted and what didn't count as a 'substantial meal'.

Pub landlords, restauranteurs and other affiliated business owners will absolutely be happy to see the back of this confusing piece of legislation if it's set to be scrapped. The hospitality sector, which wants to see as little confusion and legislative red tape as possible once it's allowed to get back to work, will definitely see this as a step in the right direction and somewhat of a return to normality in a very turbulent time.