Hundreds of pubs could shutdown forever unless Boris Johnson decides in the next 48 hours when they can reopen, the UK’s largest beer companies have warned.

In an open letter to the prime minister, more than 50 of the UK’s most prominent brewing companies warned that plummeting beer sales and prolonged uncertainty over when pubs will be allowed to reopen that has brought the pub and brewing industry to “a moment of maximum jeopardy” that could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The signatories, from global giants such as the Guinness owner Diageo to regional UK brewers such as Adman’s, urged Johnson to finally decide whether the government would allow pubs to reopen from 4 July.

July 4 “was initially proposed by the government as part of a phased lifting of lockdown restrictions that including permission for non-essential shops to start trading this week, according to the Guardian.

But as of Friday the prime minister had yet to confirm whether the plan would proceed, despite repeated calls for clarity from the industry, which claims it needs three weeks to prepare for that July 4 opening date

“Our businesses cannot afford to continue in limbo,” breweries, including Carlsberg, Molson Coors and Greene King, told Johnson…

“The livelihoods of thousands of publicans and hundreds of thousands of pub and brewery employees in every corner of the UK hang in the balance.”

“We want to work with the government to get our breweries and pubs back on their feet, but we need urgent clarity from you in order to do this.”

Government officials had recently hinted that pubs with open air beer gardens might be able to reopen on June 22. But according to the Guardian “Downing Street ditched the plan, fueling confusion in the industry about reopening and raising fears that many of the UK’s 47,000 pubs may not survive the pandemic.”

The open letter to the Prime Minster represents a very public escalation of pressure on the government from the UK beer and pubs industry, which has been devastated by three months of lockdown.

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