How can government advice over Christmas parties be right when there are such high risks of people testing positive?

As people continue to talk about their Christmas parties and wonder whether to have one or not or even whether to go or not, new cases have risen again.

Who would have thought we would enter December with such a difficult and vexing question on our lips? To party or not to party.

We seem to be in a fast-flowing news stream at the moment where things are changing almost by the minute.

After criticism after criticism of the overnment for being too slow, someone has definitely pressed the turbo charge switch on covid protection. Even the journalists are taken by surprise!

Our writings on this subject have been interpreted as being obsessive. Is that really the case?

What is worse? Being told you cannot travel because of a growing covid issue or just carrying on as usual and catching the new variant?

A new variant appears in South Africa and panic seems to have set in everywhere.

Whatever one’s view about illegal immigrants crossing the channel, the news of so many deaths on one boat is chilling in the extreme.

Europe is getting into a real state over the spread of covid and new measures are being taken more or less everywhere to try and stop it.

The idea of getting into an aeroplane powered purely by electricity is really quite exciting and probably extraordinary.

As the roll of new cases in the UK goes up Austria has announced that it is going back into full lockdown with effect from 22^nd November.

Germany, having pressed the panic button, has recorded huge new cases over the past few days with its seven day rolling figure exceeding 294,000.

Hospitality. What does it mean? How do we all see it? What is certain is that it requires some very specific attributes to go into it successfully.

The news that Austria is confining the non-vaccinated back to isolation has come as quite a shock and is unquestionably one of the more authoritarian moves we have seen.

A new report has come up with figures showing that the hospitality industry is still in dire straits with its revenue down 45% on the comparable period to the end of quarter 3 in 2019.

Society is in a bit of a muddle, to put it mildly, over what to do about covid-19. What is needed is for people to take a step back and think about it logically.

The pandemic in bringing about the closure of businesses, notably in the hospitality industry, created a new crisis because of the need for businesses to continue to pay their rents. Many could not.

Johns Hopkins University table now shows that this week we have passed the grim figure of 5 million deaths worldwide. That comes out of a total recorded cases of 248,798,277.

One sometimes wonders what the British love hate relationship with fish is all about and perhaps with problems with France and COP26 considering sustainability etc, now may be a good time to look at this again.

There has been quite a lot of hype over the up-coming budget with certain calculated leaks being made and incurring the wrath of the Speaker of Parliament.

As has been said many times, the covid pandemic is the most serious crisis since the second world war and normally in times of difficulty people tend to pull together.

The call from experts to the government to do something gets louder and this is now coupled with the risk of a lockdown Christmas.

We have a government minister who says that the NHS is under huge pressure at the moment but it is sustainable.

There is an undercurrent of alarm building with the rapid increase in number of new covid cases over the past week or so.

The new study which says lateral flow tests are more reliable than previously thought appears to bring very good news!

Just a short news item today – to report that the seven day rolling total of new cases in the UK has now exceeded 300000, and stands at 300081.

In our end of week covid numbers review we can report that new cases are solidly around the forty thousands a day now.

Traditionally probably we do not have sympathy with airlines; they somehow usually manage to fall on their feet and generally at the expense of the flying public.

It’s always nice to see Dr Nabarro interviewed on television and he has almost become a household name during the pandemic.

One of the things people have said time and again is that during the pandemic the government has always acted too late in taking remedial action.

When you look at the Johns Hopkins table of cases and deaths, it is quite shocking to see that the UK is practically at the top of the list, number 4 in fact in terms of official case numbers.

Covid has brought a considerable number of challenges to society over the past twenty one months. Now here comes another – flu will be back.

If you are like me you will still have several platefuls of spaghetti hanging out behind your television set and other gadgets.

As we know, the vast majority of people who catch covid-19 survive the experience; it may not be nice but the virus usually goes away.

The quirks of today’s establishment are coming under fire but it seems to be a battle they are bringing upon themselves.

In days gone by, perished would have been the thought that James Bond could be other than a red blooded British male!

When the pandemic hit hospitality so very badly, the Chancellor introduced a reduced rate of 5% on restaurant food and hotel room charges.

Having told you about a new hospitality council yesterday poised to set the world to rights, today it is criticised for not being representative.

Back in the summer the Prime Minister announced that there would be help for the hospitality industry by way of the appointment of a minister to oversee the sector.

We are today seeing pictures on television of huge queues of cars trying to buy petrol and other pictures of closed fuel stations.

When you have issues like Afghanistan, exploding volcanoes on La Palma, diplomatic spats like France getting up tight because it loses an order for submarines, fuel queues at petrol stations and of course the other colourful tapestry of our news, perhaps it is easy to forget.

A day or so ago we were told that new cases had dropped by 20% of late. Indeed that was true because the peak was 272000 per week some weeks ago.

With the disastrous consequences of a total lockdown, it has been feared that it would take at least three years for the hospitality industry to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

As we pointed out a week or so ago, no shows at restaurants and pubs are causing substantial losses.

The news that travel to the US is being re-opened from November has been greeted with pleasure.

The restaurant trade has been in something of a turmoil now for quite some time.

It’s always the way – you cannot please all of the people all of the time and the relaxation of travel regulations seems to fit the bill in that respect.

The announcement from the Transport Secretary that travel restrictions are to be lifted will no doubt be great news for everyone.

A survey carried out for the BBC reveals that most people believe that workers will continue to want to work from home even after the pandemic is over.

There will be more exciting things to worry about today than our usual trotting out of covid-19 statistics!

This week seems to be heralding almost a new phase so far as covid-19 is concerned. We are now looking forward to the autumn and winter and how this is all going to pan out.

Wondrous are the workings of government. The health secretary said one thing in an interview with Sky and then changed his mind when appearing on the BBC a little while later!

The statistics over covid still tend to be confusing and contradictory.

The problem of asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats has reached epic proportions and now we have a row between the British and the French.

Probably in the minds of the general public, restaurants, pubs and hotels make good money because they certainly know how to charge!

Imagine booking into a hotel and when you get there, there are no sheets and pillows cases on your bed. You’d be on the phone to reception like a shot, wouldn’t you?

The government minister for vaccinations Nadhim Zahawi has confirmed that vaccine certificates will be required for entry into nightclubs and other mass indoor venues from the end of September.

Today’s figure is a fraction less than yesterday’s – we have 37011.

We asked this question exactly a year ago. Amazingly the answer is probably just same.

Running a restaurant is a fiendish task at the best of times but the higher your intended quality, the more difficult it gets.

Confused? Who isn’t! The seven day trend is showing a reduction in new cases but the daily one is resolutely up again.

The statistics continue to play with our minds but today the seven day rolling total of new cases has dropped – by just 517!

Here we are at the end of August and basically the end of the summer holiday season.

France tightens its grip on areas of activity in the country where vaccinations are compulsory.

While there is a pandemic around we spend a lot of time analysing the figures, counting new cases, deaths and hospitalisations and indeed it is one of the most worrying facets of our lives today.

Considering the lack of apparent concern now and reduction in wearing of masks you would think that this pandemic was over.

There is every chance that public confidence is going to be shaken by the latest revelations that our excellent vaccines may have a tendency to “wear off”.

Over the past 18 months the market has seen an enormous increase in meals consumed at home, either as a result of take-aways or deliveries.

It is strange that events and circumstances can conspire together to bring about unintended and / or unexpected consequences.

Day after day, week after week we seem to be reporting that new cases of coronavirus in the UK are on the increase, not at a huge rate, but inexorably and consistently.

When the government lifted the covid restrictions, it seems that the majority of people thought that this meant that it was safe to go out and resume normal life.

Jean Sibelius was Finnish and was born in 1865 and lived a long life, dying in 1957. For some of us he was contemporary!

Has the British government lost its grip over the handling of covid-19 such that it has decided to allow a free-for-all and we just “hope for the best”?

Normally after the weekend the record of new cases is lower, reflecting the fact that apparently not all cases get into the system as quickly.

The government’s grand scheme of attempting to bribe young people to have their covid vaccinations with taxi rides and take away meals is not proving quite the success they would like.

ONS data is usually somewhat in arrears. This is probably because they prefer to wait for a stream of data rather than just jump on the first information available.

Putting aside the anti-vaxxers and the others who have not yet had jabs, amounting to 25% of the adult population still, you could feel the relief as people gradually got their vaccinations.

It’s done it again – new cases down today and yet the seven day trend is up again.

Figures have a funny way of misleading people if they are not read correctly.

A couple of weeks ago smiling tv reporters were telling us that the toll of new cases of covid-19 had dropped “off the edge of a cliff”.

Bit by bit stories are beginning to emerge now about individuals dying of covid 19 unnecessarily.

Along comes another review of the traffic light travel system with countries moving in both directions.

It does seem absurd that having lifted restrictions in England huge numbers of people are having to self-isolate because of “pingdemonium”.

The health of our hospitality industry is a matter of interest and I dare say concern to all of us.

As we move into August, the pandemic starts to bring on the surreal.

The “drama series”, The Crown, has certainly made an impact on viewers, particularly in the United Kingdom.

The “drama series”, The Crown, has certainly made an impact on viewers, particularly in the United Kingdom.

As July reaches its end, the August holiday season starts this weekend.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been pinged recently by the NHS covid app. This means that they have been in some proximity to someone who has since tested positive.

The travel rules into the UK are really something of a confused muddle.

The past week has seen a consistent drop in new cases in the UK, indeed a 15% drop over the previous seven days.

Time for a break from covid and rather conveniently the topic of electric cars has been highlighted recently.

There will not be many who are not deeply worried about the increase in numbers of new cases of covid-19, not just in the UK but world-wide.

2020 was a sad year for music lovers who normally throng to the BBC Promenade Concerts which are usually held in one of the country’s most iconic buildings, the Royal Albert Hall.

The Prime Minister, always one for the dramatic, certainly let out a new piece of strategy yesterday which seems to have shocked the country, or at least part of it.

We have gone through a lot in the past sixteen months with all the shutdowns, lockdowns, restrictions, mask wearing, social distancing etc. We all know what we have had to put up with.

I cannot deny finding the attitude to the Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak and their close contact with the virus most odd.

It is fair to say that Professor Chris Whitty has made his mark in the past year and a half.

The attitudes of different people across England and indeed the UK are beginning to get frenetic.

Is the decision of the British government to relax restrictions a selfish act which has little regard for the needs of others or does it herald the way for the rest of the world?

As the full expression goes – “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”

It’s a “home day” today – a day when I wonder what I have achieved with the 400 blogs I have now completed. You can read them all and see for yourself!

The announcements are coming thick and fast now and double-vaxxers will not have to quarantine when returning from amber listed countries. And this more or less opens up Europe for holiday makers.

There is no doubt that when coronavirus became a reality everyone became dead scared. And they were right to.

There was a time when no one was very keen on masks; now everyone is worried about whether lifting restrictions is coming too soon. How fickle we are!

As the days pass, the likelihood of social-distancing restrictions being lifted appears to increase.

One thing is certain – probably Nigel Farage will never give up showing us how asylum seekers continue to arrive.

The government has made it clear that their concern all along has been to “protect the NHS” and in their eyes this objective has now been achieved.

As restrictions start to be lifted, new controls come into force to attempt to control the spread of coronavirus but it is not as simple as it might sound.

As covid-19 benefits are rolling to an end, the hospitality industry is having a hard time of it with staff having to self-isolate.

One of the most controversial issues in the hospitality trade is the treatment of tips, or service charges, or gratuities by whatever name they are actually called.

As our daily cases number now has crept over 22000, we learn that Portugal is stepping up it measures against holiday makers who cannot prove they are double vaccinated. And Portugal is not alone – Malta is to disallow arrivals who are not doubly vaccinated from Wednesday and Spain also needs travellers to show they are doubly vaccinated or produce a negative PCR test.

What was the true motive for a camera in a government minister’s office, seemingly hidden in a smoke detector? At first we thought Matt Hancock had been rather careless, performing his act of failure to self-distance in front of a security camera!

If you have a computer, and you must have if you are reading this, you will know that the constant upgrades in software are a never-ending activity.

The travel companies want it all opened up as quickly as possible while Angela Merkel wants all of Europe to impose quarantine on arrivals from Britain.

One of the problems of political development is that it actually takes generations to feed through the system and become meaningful.

As the days now start to get shorter perhaps it is a good moment to reflect a little on the value of alcohol in our society.

More information is emerging about the new national flagship seen as the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia which was decommissioned as long ago as 1997. It seems like yesterday.

As we approach mid-summer there is developing a certain sense of fear over the third wave now getting a grip. There is certainly a sense of heightened anxiety.

Without a doubt covid-19 has blitzed people’s plans to get married on anything other than a minute scale for a considerable time now.

It will no doubt come as a great relief to my tenants and lessees throughout the country to learn that the rent moratorium has now been extended by a further nine months to March 2022.

The big question will be is this government policy the tip of the iceberg or is this going to be the full extent of the requirement?

The Prime Minister’s announcement that the lockdown will continue for another four weeks has thrown the hospitality industry into confusion and disarray.

So the PM has pronounced but we all knew what was coming because of the controlled leaks over the weekend.

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc across the world with economies and businesses, literally on a global scale. Indeed, who knows what further damage will follow in its wake?

The pressure had just built too much. Now the PM has said that a cautious approach will be required to lifting restrictions.

The thought of the lifting of all restrictions on 21^st June is becoming very worrying indeed.

This post will not be long but hopefully long enough to make you think about trust in the NHS.

There are now so many different rules and regulations in relation to coronavirus and differing levels of information that people are beginning to lose track, that is if they have not already done so.

The question has been raging on now for months as to whether there should be a UK vaccination passport or certificate and it is very clear that there is mixed feeling over this.

Breaking the sound barrier was originally almost a thing of science fiction, indeed it was questioned as to whether it was even possible.

As the holiday and aviation industries get hot under the collar over the removal of Portugal from the green list, the ONS reports a 76.5% increase in cases in the past week in England.

Talk about turning the knife in the wound; the removal of Portugal from the green list will be a real blow both to the British and the Portuguese.

The first day without deaths in the UK for a year is certainly a red letter moment; hopefully there will be more.

A few days ago we told you how the hospitality industry reckons it is short of 188000 workers at the moment.

Life gets no easier with the pandemic and France has now decided to close its borders with the UK.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the catering trade does not know where it is going. You would probably be right!

Do you remember the covid passport? This was the document which was never going to be introduced according to government thinking at the time.

Back in January we reported on how airships might become a transport of the future after the disastrous Hindenburg incident 84 years ago.

There will come a day when someone will sit down and try and record all the changes that coronavirus has brought about to our daily lives.

For a country which in so many ways spearheads world technology it must come as something of a shock to know that the government has no idea who is or is not in the country at any given time.

As was to be expected there was a bulge in sales as pubs reopened. New data showed that on average the increase on pre-covid periods was some 25%.

Michael Portillo is just one of many television presenters who have brought the railways of the world, let alone this country, into focus over the years with their amusing and sometimes startling documentaries on travel, railway architecture and engineering, and using books like Bradshaw’s guides!

Reports of the disposal of out of date AstraZeneca vaccines are nothing less than distressing in the extreme.

What a bit of luck people are allowed to change their minds! From saying some months ago that the government had no intention of providing any form of covid passport, now they have.

It is all very well people saying that we are making steps back to normal, but do they mean “new normal”?

15^th May 2021 will be one of those dates which will go down in history as a marker when things changed, probably for ever.

We have watched the UK green list get wittled down as the week has gone on but surely we must be in the position now where Israel is not going to be someone’s destination of choice for their summer holiday, at least not at the moment.

Is it all just too much of a frenzy? Is this desire to jet off to foreign parts just a reaction again having been stuck at home for so long? Is it really that important to get away that it is worth running the gauntlet with all the different restrictions and hurdles?

It sounded simple, albeit somewhat limited, but a list of green countries where we could travel with minimal tests and no quarantine seemed like a good start to re-opening international travel.

The thought that pubs can run out of beer in Britain is nothing less than quite shocking. Britain – that Mecca for fine ales – as well as importing some rather dicey ones.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the British government is having a “bit of a larf” over the travel traffic light system and, in particular the green list of countries.

Reports on the television today that businesses are spending large sums of money on trying to protect their customers from catching coronavirus unnecessarily must be very annoying for the companies which are doing it.

I know we have a lot to say about the hospitality industry but there is no doubt that this sector of the economy has been left holding the heavy end of the coffin.

It does seem to be extraordinary that people can book a table at a restaurant or pub and then just not bother to turn without cancelling it.

It is amazing to think that the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned as long ago as 1997 and that following a decision even earlier in 1994.

We tend to take a general look at covid-19 numbers at the weekend and this past week or two have been quite stunning in their developments.

A new study has shown that this year the number of workers in the hospitality sector in the UK from the EU has dropped to 39.4% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 43.4% in the first quarter of 2019.

Professor Van-Tam has now become a well known expert when it comes to coronavirus and he featured in the particularly long Downing Street briefing yesterday.

So now there is an even better reason to have a vaccination than before. Not only do you protect yourself but a study shows that the risk of transmission of covid-19 to others is significantly reduced.

The situation in India continues to deteriorate and the graphic scenes shown on the television continue to horrify us all.

If you are in the UK it is really easy to begin to think that it is all over, with lockdown restrictions being lifted, life slowly returning to some semblance of normality and everyone crowing about how well the vaccination programme is going.

In what has been described as the worst case of miscarriage of justice the UK has ever seen, 39 former postmasters have had their convictions for fraud and false accounting quashed.

The idea that the government is doing a trial event with no social distancing or face masks must be the most exciting post-lockdown event we have seen.

It seems like it has been a long winter with being stuck inside in the lockdown.

The government’s offer of free two free tests a week to everyone started yesterday and today the first tests were dropping on people’s doormats.

Our news report today will be very short.

Deaths have continued to drop and have remained in double figures for some while now.

As the days go by we see complaint after complaint about the effects of the virus on our society – as if it was someone’s fault.

We have little to say today except that it is good to see that the government plan is currently on target.

Our message today will be short. The Union flag, known colloquially as the Union jack is the national flag of the United Kingdom.

Was it the April Fool’s joke or is the frenetic discussion over covid passports getting more so every day?

There is something about British Summer Time, the longer days and the relaxation of lockdown rules which turns one’s mind to pubs and restaurants.

As we know the numbers of reported deaths and new cases at weekends in the UK are always on the low side.

During the pandemic we are told that internet and telephone fraud has increased significantly. Needless to say with people sitting at home, they are as good as sitting ducks.

Governments never cease to amaze and not always in a good way! It has now been announced that booster jabs can be expected in the autumn before half the people have even had their first jab!

The way discussions are moving forward around the world for a covid passport are beginning to get very interesting.

A new report by CGA and AlixPartners tells us that we now have 7592 fewer licensed premises in Britain than we had before the covid-19 pandemic.

One of the big changes to life style during the pandemic has been the fact that people were instructed by the government to work from home if at all possible.

There is no doubt about it that living through the pandemic has never been short of surprises, some good and some not so good.

There is a always a potential problem when demand for a commodity exceeds supply and never has that been seen to be truer than now with covid-19 vaccines.

The need for there to be a covid-19 passport is hotting up as P&O has made it quite clear what its requirements will be.

The hospitality industry has had a big knock and thousands of employees have lost their jobs. Indeed thousands of licensed businesses have closed down for good.

The anticipated extension of the rental moratorium has arrived. For commercial tenants, the moratorium has been extended to the end of June.

Last week Cyprus announced that from 1^st May they would welcome Brits who had received both of their vaccinations.

Who would be in the hospitality industry today with all the pressures and problems?

The controversial interview of Meghan Markle by Oprah Winfrey was really quite scandalous.

Although there is still a bit of a chill in the air the general weather is gradually getting warmer – but it needs to to enable al fresco dining and drinking to work!

Going back centuries, the country’s wealth was more or less all held by the Crown and the aristocracy. The ordinary people by and large had nothing.

Today’s announcement that Cyprus will allow British in quarantine free from 1^st May if they have had both of their vaccinations has thrown the whole holiday situation up into the air.

Although welcome in themselves, the chancellor’s measures in yesterday’s budget are not seen as sufficient to rescue the hospitality industry.

Today’s budget has been the most extraordinary of my professional career and that has been going on for a few years!

The news that the European Union is intent on the development of a vaccination certificate, to be known as a “digital green pass” is ironical in the extreme.

With all the talk of a covid-19 passport or “certificate”, there is already something you can do to prepare.

It is ironical that it has taken a pandemic to bring forward the revolution of the use of personal data. When we think of this, normally our minds turn to identification, bank accounts, in fact just about anything but now your food preferences?

It is exciting – the road map suggests dates when in particular the hospitality industry can re-open – pubs, restaurants, hotels, even night clubs are all now in the running to get going again.

Now that the Prime Minister has outlined the road map out of covid-19 restrictions, the debate has again turned to the issue of vaccination passports which we have mentioned a number of times now.

The timing of today’s announcements means that we shall not really have a full picture of where the country is going until later this evening.

It is only a few days ago when we raised the question of vaccination passports, who might need them and when. Since then the issue has come up a number of times and passports are going to be needed and the UK runs the risk of being left behind if it does not get on board.

If there is one habit which the pandemic and associated lockdowns has changed, it is “eating in”. That is basically because there has been no option while restaurants and pubs have been closed.

Things are really hotting up now with coronavirus what with variations and mutations. Where would we be if there were no vaccinations taking place?

15^th February is already a date on which a major event took place in the UK but this year is going to be remembered for something new.

There is no doubt about it but the travel industry has every reason to feel glum at the moment and this is not going to change any time soon.

There is something really strange about the British attitude to eating fish – as a nation we just do not appear to make the best use of one of our greatest natural resources.

We have talked about rollercoasters on a number of occasions now as we things see-saw up and down. Of course rollercoasters are supposed to be fun but unfortunately the range of goods and bads we have seen over the past nine months have been far from fun.

It is a real blow for some hoteliers and other hospitality operators but although there were insurance claims for business interruption, insurance companies fell over themselves to avoid making payouts, claiming that the cover did not extend to such exceptional circumstances or that the wording did not cover the present situation etc.

What can one say about the unfortunate death of Captain Sir Tom Moore? This is surely the ultimate lesson to us to respect Covid-19?

The way the news has shifted in recent days over who is actually going to get their vaccinations is startling. The action of the EU on Friday trying to “secure their position” was extraordinary and has done them no good at all. It is a good job that they backed down.

The very sobering fact that the UK has now recorded 100000 deaths from Covid-19 is just about all that anyone is talking about today.

Time marches on and some businesses are now getting sufficiently weighed down with debt that they are just going to close and I am referring in particular to night time businesses, bars and clubs with live music which by their nature involve their patrons in close contact. We are talking of the Night Time Industries Association members.

The announcement today that Debenhams has been sold comes as no surprise as we knew it was insolvent. However, the rub is that the name and website has been bought, but not the bricks and mortar in the various high street shops up and down the country. This is not the first name to go this way and certainly will not be the last.

Guernsey on Saturday announced four new covid-19 cases after seven months of being virtually clear of the disease and implemented an immediate lockdown.

The police have broken up a wedding party in London at the Orthodox Charedi Jewish school which was being attended by 400 people.

The increase in fatalities in the NHS has raised the question about whether members of the NHS staff should be liable for deaths when they have to make what are potentially life and death decisions about who to treat, for example if there are two patients and only one ventilator.

It’s all about Covid-19 at the moment. Hospitals bulging to overflowing, patients being examined in corridors and ambulances and doctors tearing their hair out because of insufficient resources. How did we allow this to creep up on us without realising what was about to happen?

There has been a general call for a Minister of Hospitality for a number of months, encouraged particularly by the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has caused enormous damage to the hospitality sector and is set to wreak yet further havoc before it is all over.

It seems that it is very difficult to get it right. The Home Secretary has made it clear to the police that they need to get tough and enforce the rules. This they now seem to be doing with large numbers and the issuing of increased numbers of fines which are themselves beginning to get more hefty.

Anyone who follows the news will surely now be getting the feelings of panic which are beginning to pervade our medical services and government at this time. The issue of hospitals running out of places is what was intended to be avoided at all costs at the beginning of this pandemic; the strategy worked back in the first lockdown but has now clearly failed.

Now we have got a week into 2021, life has settled down and holidays and so forth are over, subject of course to the interesting diversion carrying on in Washington DC. How will that play out?

Worldwide people sat inter alia with jaws dropped as the country probably regarded as the most free and democratic of the world televised the invasion of their capitol building by angry protestors as the house was proceeding to meet to conduct what was simply a procedural matter, namely to record the votes for the next president and declare him duly elected.

Today is the day Christmas decorations must come down – last night was twelfth night. As we bid goodbye to the Christmas season we now pick up the tab – new cases today recorded at 62,322 and deaths have passed the 1000 mark and are recorded at 1041.

Today has recorded a record number of new cases in the UK since the start of the pandemic at 60,916. Deaths are recorded at 830.

With the announcement of the first AstraZeneca vaccinations today, morale must be lifted in terms of believing that at last we have started a phase of the pandemic which may bring about its end.

If you are one of the half a million British to have had a vaccination, count yourself lucky. But you may be waiting for your second dose much longer than you thought. The fact is that it seems like the UK is making itself look really stupid over the manner in which it is handling the vaccination programme.

So here we are at last, at long last! The end of what has been a pretty awful year one way or another. 2020 reaches its welcome conclusion very shortly – indeed in parts of the world it is already 2021.

Today has been a busy day. The first batch of news concerns Brexit and the watershed that the Brexit deal with the EU has passed through the Commons.

The news which has emerged that hospitals are at breaking point really crept up on us and I suspect no one really quite understood the consequences.

Whether you are a deal or no deal person, I do not think anyone can deny that they are excited by the prospect of a finalised deal and to read the small print. Of course as they always say, the devil is in the detail and with 2000 pages to read between now and, oh yes, about 29^th December, this should afford some excellent bed time reading over the forthcoming holiday, perfect in fact for a lockdown.

There is no doubt that there will be many people very unhappy with the announcement which has been made by the Prime Minister more or less cancelling Christmas unless you live locally. People have certainly been looking forward to getting with families, in some cases for the first time for months.

When Dr Fauci made his unforgivable remarks yesterday about how the US uses the gold standard while the UK had not carried out the task of vetting the new vaccine by Pfizer properly, this not surprisingly caused such anger that he was later forced to apologise.

The discovery of a vaccine to fight Covid-19 was heralded as great news last week. Indeed, we were told that it is potentially 90% effective – a huge result.

Just a very short note today as it is really a time for thought and reflection.

Now the new lockdown has started in England hospitality businesses find themselves with quite mixed feelings about the future and what to do.

Whether or not you are in favour of another lockdown, what is certain is that our hospitality industry really is taking a beating with this terrible virus. After the chancellor of the exchequer introduced his remarkable scheme of eat out to help out, sadly there is now a school of thought propagating the view that this was a false economy

Last night at 8pm Central European Time we gathered around the TV to listen to the President of the Republic address the nation, and deliver perhaps one of the worst kept secrets so far this year. We are back in lockdown, a decision taken in conjunction with the opposition parties and trade unions, in other words all those in responsibility.

Heathrow Airport is seldom out of the news for long and has certainly been making a lot of noise in the past nine months, although not so much of that noise has been made by aeroplanes.

On the eve of what we all expect to be an increase in restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19, perhaps it would be of interest to see a few statistics.

If you are thinking of buying a hotel, it may be time to think again, or maybe not!

Education is one of the principal planks of our modern-day society. In no circumstances can it be neglected, whether the students are small children or mature adults finding a new start in life. Britain is noted as one of the top educational countries in the world and Britain is rightfully proud of it.

A week ago we commented on whether the time had come to start to let inevitable failures fail. It is a hard decision to make but with life changing so very dramatically, it certainly is inevitable that some businesses will not recover in the way that we knew them.

A very widely “leaked” statement was made by the Prime Minister at noon today aiming to set out new restrictions being brought in to combat Covid-19.

The sight of Blackpool on Saturday might, when all is well, would be a wonderful sight for local businesses – all that trade three quarters of the way through September.

It is almost like comparing the haves to the have nots. Now virtually the whole of the north of England is being subjected to new restrictions, that is except for Blackpool and so far no one has explained why Blackpool is being given preferential treatment!

Just about everyone who stays at a hotel at any time knows about Booking.com. As online travel agents, OTAs, go, it is probably just about the best known. Their site is comprehensive and they include loads of photographs of proposed destinations and provide a fairly good amount of information about venues to enable people to make their selections.

It cannot be denied that anxiety is on the increase. Numbers of new cases are growing at an alarming rate and already we are on notice that groups of more than six people are going to be outlawed in England, whether in or outside, subject to a few exemptions, details of which are awaited but include weddings and funerals.

News has now emerged that 40 of the hotels are to be reopened under a new banner – the phoenix rises. The properties will now come under management by Bespoke Hotels under a five year agreement.

I know we do quite hammer this particular topic but it seems to us that it is so important that no amount of thought given to it is too much.

The chancellor’s eat out to help out scheme is now closed. Considering the novelty of the idea when it was announced, it does appear to have been an incredible success with some restaurants saying they have never had a busier August than this one. The scheme has cost a great deal of money with well over 64 million meals being sold.

It will not have escaped general notice that three more countries have now been removed from the travel corridor list, namely Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland whilst Cuba has now been added, all with effect from 4 am this morning.

The chancellor’s eat out to help out scheme has one further day to run after today, next Monday which is a bank holiday. Although there have been calls for the chancellor to extend his scheme this has not been done and it would be surprising if it were given that the ball is being picked up by others.

It seems a strange thing but it is really difficult to know just what the British people think about their present situation. On the one hand we have the Prime Minister urging people where possible to go back to work. And yet the bigger cities are still relatively deserted, notably London where some are beginning to predict the on-set of a real problem – a city without workers and where basic shops and restaurants are going to start to go out of business because of lack of trade.

The recent news that Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory might be dropped from the Last Night of the Proms because the conductor is Finnish is the ultimate insult.

The World Health Organisation today said that they hoped the Covid-19 pandemic would be over in “under two years”. This seems to be putting down a clear marker for the world to ruminate over – another two years of what we are going through?

Yesterday we said that we were surprised quarantining incomers from France had not come into force. I guess that the Transport Secretary read our blog!

If there is one thing which has moved forward apace during the coronavirus pandemic it is the development of technology to make the hospitality business more “Covid-19 friendly”. People using restaurants and hotels are already beginning to see these developments in operation but perhaps they are not aware of the extent of where things are moving to.