LAW makers are being asked to reach a ‘sensible compromise’ over restrictions that will ban pubs from selling alcohol.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP, Liz Saville Roberts, is calling on the Welsh Government said that restrictions due to come into force on Friday in Wales that will force pubs, bars and restaurants to close at 6pm and prohibit them from selling alcohol, saying the rules are lacking in logic and risked undermining public trust.  

Mrs Saville Roberts is also urging both the Welsh and UK government to urgently look again at giving targeted financial support to specific sectors of the economy such as the self-employed, freelancers and parts of the hospitality and leisure industry.  

Mrs Saville Roberts MP said: “There has been an understandable backlash to these new restrictions from the hospitality industry and there is now a real risk of public trust being further eroded because people cannot comprehend the logic.

“Public trust in policy depends largely on a clearly communicated logic. 

“I fear that banning alcohol completely could have the opposite intended consequence of driving people to socialise at home.’

“How can four people from four different households having coffee together be safer than two people from the same household having a pint? This is the confusing logic the government needs to reconcile.

“Whilst the package of financial support is to be welcomed, it will not meet the needs of many in my constituency who rely on the festive season to make the bulk of their annual profit.

“Many sectors in Dwyfor Meirionnydd have again been cut-off from financial support, particularly the self-employed and those in the gig economy who have again fallen short of government help.

“This is the ticking time bomb for a looming unemployment crisis and the Welsh Government must address it with urgency.

“At the moment, these new restrictions feel particularly punitive for areas of low Covid-19 transmission. We need a sensible compromise where cafes, bars and restaurants can serve a limited number of drinks to a limited group of people until a later time.

“The First Minister must urgently revisit these restrictions and come back with a sensible compromise.”

First Minister Mark Drakeford announced on Monday that pubs, bars and restaurants will have to close their doors each day at 6pm, from Friday onwards, and will not be allowed to sell alcohol.

Mr Drakeford added that cinemas, museums, art galleries, amusement arcades and other indoor entertainment venues will have to close their doors from Friday as well.

Other restrictions in Wales will remain the same.