Pubs matter to our communities and are worth saving, Prime Minister - The Yorkshire Post says

However, more importantly, a lot of long-standing pubs are a part and parcel of the communities that they serve.

These pubs offer a place for people to meet with friends and family. A pub is a place for birthdays, anniversaries and wakes. They offer warmth and shelter on cold rainy days. And are a relief from isolation for many people in their local communities.

That is why the “daily deteriorating situation” that the pub trade faces cannot be allowed to go on.

A lot of these institutions have already been wiped out by Covid lockdowns.

Yet the Government refuses to engage with the industry on how it will help pubs through this unprecedented crisis with many of them being squeezed by sky-high energy bills, price hikes and labour shortages.

It was not like the warning signs weren’t there before Boris Johnson was forced out by his own party as leader. In April, pubs were reporting a huge increase in their energy bills and that’s before the cold of winter bites.

Just this week the Gillygate pub in York closed after its energy bill rose from £900 a month to £2,500.

There’s also the Railway Inn, in Rodley, Leeds, which has laid off its chef and closed its kitchen due to food and fuel costs “rising out of control”.

A lot of the debates between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have focused on the impact of the cost of living crisis on families.

But the challenges businesses, who don’t even have the benefit of an energy price cap, face has received little attention.

More Yorkshire pubs can’t be allowed to go to the wall. The next Prime Minister must listen to the industry and roll out support measures quickly to ensure more Yorkshire pubs aren’t calling time forever.