The 10pm curfew for the hospitality industry remains in place despite a number of MPs warning about the damage it is doing to businesses.
Matt Hancock said the policy is a 'necessary' measure to curb rising rates of coronavirus infections but that it is 'being constantly reviewed'.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, the Health Secretary was questioned multiple times on the validity of the curfew and how the government has come to the decision to impose such a rule.
Liberal Democrat MP Daisy Cooper said “lives and livelihoods” were being put at risk as she urged ministers to scrap the measure.
She told the Commons: “The evidence is clear the 10pm pubs curfew has been a hammer-blow to hospitality and turfing crowds of people out of Covid-secure venues on to the streets is putting lives and livelihoods at risk.”
She added: “This government is making thousands upon thousands of hospitality jobs unviable, undermining public health and killing our high streets.”
So what is the scientific evidence behind it?
Mr Hancock responded to Ms Cooper's comment by saying: "The virus spreads most outside of households when other households meet together, including in hospitality venues.”
The Health Secretary said it is “safer” for people to be outside than inside when challenged over the curfew resulting in crowds on the streets at 10pm.
Conservative former cabinet minister Greg Clark said: “It does seem strange to think that concentrating trade in a smaller number of hours and making everyone leave a pub or a restaurant at the same time rather than spacing them out over the course of the evening should suppress rather than spread the virus.
“So would the Secretary of State summarise the scientific advice he has had on this point?”
Mr Hancock replied: “The scientific advice is that the people who are closer together are more likely to spread the virus, and later at night social distancing becomes harder.
“We’ve all seen the pictures of people leaving pubs at 10 o’clock but otherwise they would have been inside the establishments and we all know that outside is safer, or they’d be leaving later.
“Of course, we keep this under review and of course we’re constantly looking at how we can improve these policies, but I think we’ve got to look at both sides of the evidence to try to get this right.”
Meanwhile, Mr Hancock also announced that Bolton will be aligned with Greater Manchester lockdown rules, paving the way for pubs, bars and restaurants in the borough to reopen.
Hospitality businesses in the town have been restricted to takeaway trade only since September 8 after rates rocketed to the highest in the country at the time.
