Rishi Sunak won’t rule out another Eat Out to Help Out to ‘get consumers spending again’ after lockdown

RISHI Sunak has refused to rule out a winter version of the Eat Out to Help Out meal deal "to get consumers spending again" after lockdown.

Mr Sunak said this morning there would be more measures to try and get people out and about again after the encouraging news that the UK economy grew a massive 15.5 per cent after the first shutdown.

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New stats from the Office of National Statistics showed a record economic bounce back through July to September.

But the economy stayed 9.7 per cent smaller than it was at the end of last year and as new restrictions shuttered up shops and forced pubs to close, it is on track to shrink even more.

The Eat Out to Help Out discount dining deal meant Brits could get up to 50 per cent off meals, up to £10 per person, Monday through Wednesday in August.

The scheme is credited with getting the economy rumbling again as people flocked to restaurants, pubs and cafes.

And when asked if a fresh version of Eat Out to Help Out could be rolled out to boost businesses after the latest shut down, Mr Sunak said he would be looking at economic measures to get people spending again.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, Mr Sunak said: "I won't talk about specific measures, but more broadly I think it's right when we finally exit this (lockdown) and hopefully next year with testing and vaccines, we'll be able to start to look forward to getting back to normal.

"We'll have to look forward to the economic situation then and see what the best form of our support.

"We want to get consumers spending again, get them out and about, we'll look at a range of things to see what the right interventions are at that time."

But the Chancellor refused to commit to any specific measures that could be rolled out, and Treasury sources downplayed the prospect of a new Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.

It comes as:

• Coronavirus tests for as little as £5 could help get fans back into footies stadiums
• Brits will get an extra bank holiday in 2022 for the Queen's 70th year on the throne
• The Royals could be used to spearhead campaigns for mass testing
• Britain became the first country in Europe to hit 50,000 deaths

The Sun revealed earlier this year Mr Sunak was considering another run at the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

The final day of the scheme, Monday August 31, saw a 216% jump in bookings compared to the equivalent day in 2019, according to initial data from OpenTable.

Brits took took advantage of the bumper meal deal more than 100 million times over August, costing the Exchequer £522million.

The Chancellor also slashed VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for the hospitality sector, helping boost sales for restaurants.

Monthly GDP jumped 2.2 per cent in August and was driven massively by the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.

There were also fears that the diner discount drove a rise in coronavirus cases, which started to climb from early September, only weeks after the scheme ended.

And Mr Sunak is under increasing pressure to raise Government revenues by hiking taxes.

Firms around the country received extra support from business rates were relief to help buoy them up during the coronavirus crisis, but it came at a cost with money heading for the Exchequer slowing to a trickle.

Britain's debt has climbed over £2trillion as Mr Sunak has scrambled to find the money the pay for all of the extra spending, and he has said repeatedly the UK needs to have an eye on the "long term" health of public finances.

Mr Sunak has also extended the furlough scheme until March, which will be a big hit to Treasury's coffers.

A spokesperson for the Treasury said: "The Chancellor did not hint that Eat Out To Help Out will be introduced in the winter, he simply made the point that as we emerge from this crisis we will continue to look at how to adjust our support, putting in place the right interventions at the right time.”

And a spokesperson for No10 refused to rule out a second helping of the scheme, saying: "The Eat Out to Help out scheme was very successful and did help to support the hospitality sector and protect jobs in the hospitality sector."