THE UK Treasury has proclaimed that cafes and pubs are reopening on July 4 on its Twitter account in recent days – but failed to mention that the changes apply to England only.
The tweets were the subject of widespread anger last night when one called on people to “grab a drink and raise a glass” to pubs reopening south of the Border this weekend.
READ MORE: Stay at Home: 'UK Government Scotland' removes image from Twitter
Many people felt the tone of the post was in poor taste, given the fact Covid-19 has killed at least 43,000 people across the UK.
The department removed the tweet in question and a source said: “We got it wrong on this and the tweet was quickly removed.”
However when asked about failures to specify changes in that tweet and one other only applied to England, the Treasury did not respond.
This applies to England and NI only. Pubs in Scotland are set to reopen on the 15th and Wales has yet to confirm a date for the reopening of pubs. #thatsdevolved https://t.co/aVfJIkzU17
— That's Devolved (@ThatsDevolved) July 1, 2020
The pubs tweet was initially picked up by the That’s Devolved Twitter account last night, which posted: “This applies to England and NI only.
“Pubs in Scotland are set to reopen on the 15th and Wales has yet to confirm a date for the reopening of pubs.”
Meanwhile another Treasury post stated that cafés are back from Saturday, adding it was “brew-tiful” news.
Here's some brew-tiful news: Cafe's are #OpenForBusiness again from July 4th ☕️ pic.twitter.com/KwCBm2XOA0
— HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) June 28, 2020
In Scotland outdoor hospitality like pavement cafes and beer gardens are not allowed to open until Monday July 6, while indoor cafes, pubs and restaurants will remain closed until July 15.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has faced criticism over his confused messaging during the pandemic. On one hand the Tory leader warned people not to “overdo it” in England as he announced the measure last week, but he has also stated: “Frankly, I can’t wait to go to a pub or a restaurant even if it’s not compatible with the diet that I’m on.
“I think people need to go out, I think people need to enjoy themselves and rediscover things that they have been able to do for a long time. I want to see bustle. I want to see activity.”
It is also not the first time a UK Government department Twitter account has failed to respond to different rules in Scotland than England.
Back in May when Johnson removed the “Stay at Home” lockdown messaging but Scotland kept it, the Scotland Office removed the graphic from its social media and replaced it with a generic hygiene warning.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel