G-A-Y owner Jeremy Joseph launches legal challenge against 10pm curfew: 'It makes no sense'

"Enough is enough": The owner of G-A-Y is taking legal action against the curfew
Alamy Stock Photo
Harry Fletcher5 October 2020

G-A-Y owner Jeremy Joseph has mounted a legal challenge against the 10pm curfew, claiming the latest measures make “absolutely no sense”.

Joseph is the latest figure to criticise the requirements put in place on September 24, which mean pubs, bars and restaurants have to have guests out by 10pm.

The club owner claims the measures make a “scapegoat” of the night time economy and are "unsafe" for punters. Now, he has instructed his legal teams at Simpson Miller Solictors and Kings Chambers to challenge them.

Joseph said: “The 10pm curfew which has now been in place for the last two weeks and has been detrimental to the hospitality sector, including G-A-Y, makes absolutely no sense.

“It does the opposite of protecting people by pushing them onto the street at the same time. They are going from being safe inside venues with staggered closing times to unsafe on overcrowded streets and overloaded public transport.”

Joseph went on to say: “This Government has failed to show why the 10pm curfew was put in place and has published no scientific evidence to substantiate its implementation. It seems to direct the blame for this action on the sector, consistently treating the night time Economy as a scapegoat when, in fact, we have years of operational experience of keeping customers safe, and have spent substantial time and effort making sure our venues are Covid secure.

London icon: The G-A-Y owner is taking a stand against the measures

“Enough is enough. Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson have to be made accountable and today we have instructed our legal team with the support of the NTIA to serve the Government with a Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review to challenge the decision to implement the national curfew of 10pm on the hospitality sector.”

Joseph is an influential figure in London's clubbing scene, operating G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late in London, as well as G-A-Y Manchester and Heaven in Charing Cross.

It comes after the likes of Hawksmoor’s Will Beckett, Cornerstone’s Tom Brown, Darjeeling Express’s Asma Khan, Mere’s Monica Galletti and Le Gavroche’s Michel Roux, Jr, all spoke out against the 10pm curfew back in September, telling the Standard that the move will put up to one million jobs at risk.

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