Coronavirus UK tiers: Michael Gove wades into scotch egg 'substantial meal' row - Culture

A row deepened today over whether a scotch egg can be classed as a ‘substantial meal’ under rules only allowing alcohol to be served with food from tomorrow.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said two scotch eggs would be ‘a starter’, just 24 hours after Environment Secretary George Eustice said one is a substantial meal.

The controversy comes after the Government said people going into tier two from tomorrow will have to have a ‘substantial meal’ to allow them to buy a pint.

Today, LBC presenter Nick Ferrari asked Mr Gove: ‘Do you class a scotch egg as a substantial meal? There does seem to be a degree of debate about this.’

Mr Gove replied: ‘A couple of scotch eggs is a starter as far as I’m concerned, but I do recognise that there is a… with pickle on the side… but there is, to be serious, there is a well-understood definition of what a substantial meal is.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove (pictured) spoke to Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning

A row has broken out over whether a scotch egg can be classed as a ‘substantial meal’

‘If you’re taking your nephews and nieces, your sons and daughters, and they’re 16 and 17, out to the pub, they can have an alcoholic drink provided it’s with a substantial meal. So it’s already a definition in law.’

Asked about Mr Eustice’s comments last night, Boris Johnson’s spokesman would not confirm whether the deep-fried sausagemeat and egg snack would count.

George Eustice’s family farm in Cornwall sells (you guessed it) scotch eggs

George Eustice’s family farm is well known for its scotch eggs, it has emerged.

Trevaskis Farm near Camborne has a farm shop, restaurant and butchers. It also grows its own crops, fruit and vegetable

Mr Eustice’s family had farmed in West Cornwall for six generations.

Its website says its bakery specialises in ‘doughnuts, quiches, pork pies, scotch eggs and our ever popular sausage rolls’.

Landlords accused the Government of providing ‘no clarity’ on the substantial meal rule.

Mr Eustice also confirmed that customers would not have to go home as soon as they had finished their drink.

More than 57 per cent of England’s population will be in tier two, with severe restrictions imposed on pubs.

In the harsher tier three, affecting more than 41 per cent of the population, pubs and restaurants can only operate on a takeaway or delivery basis.

The Environment Secretary said the ‘substantial meal’ provision in tier two was ‘understood very much by the restaurant trade’.

He told LBC Radio: ‘I think a Scotch egg probably would count as a substantial meal if there were table service. Often that might be as a starter, but yes I think it would.’

On the ‘substantial meal’ rule, Mr Eustice said: ‘The evidence has been that some of the challenges we have had with pubs were where you had large groups of people congregating and actually not maintaining social distancing, they were just drinking.

‘They were more likely to maintain social distancing sat down and having a meal.’

He also admitted that the rules brought in by ministers are not ‘perfectly fair’ nor consistent.

How a scotch egg is a substantial meal… but has fewer calories than a sausage roll which isn’t!

The rules dished out by the Government on what does and does not constitute a substantial meal have brought widespread confusion and ridicule.

It emerged today that a scotch egg is allowed, despite it containing just 265kcal in calories, 16.8g in carbohydrates, 11.1g in protein and 16.5g in fat.

But compare that to a sausage roll, which has 408kcal in calories, 30.7g in carbohydrates, 10.1g in protein and 26.7g in fat.

Another item considered a bar snack rather than a substantial meal is a pork pie, which is also more filling than a scotch egg – coming in with 361kcal in calories, 24.9g in carbohydrates, 12.2g in protein and 23.2g in fat.

An egg sandwich with pickles and beetroot has 446kcal, while almost exactly the same thing without pickles or beetroot has 296kcal.

The pickles and beetroot are important, after the 1965 case of Timmis v Millman which established that sandwiches being eaten in a pub were a ‘table meal’ because they were ‘assisted by the pickles and beetroot’.

SCOTCH EGG

Calories: 265kcal

Carbohydrates: 16.8g

Protein 11.1g

Fat: 16.5g

CORNISH PASTY WITH CHIPS

Calories: 1,478kcal

Carbohydrates: 179.4g

Protein: 39.9g

Fat: 76.6g

SANDWICH WITH PICKLES AND BEETROOT

Calories: 446kcal

Carbohydrates: 67.4g

Protein: 19.3g

Fat: 11g

SAUSAGE ROLL

Calories: 408 kcal

Carbohydrate: 30.7g

Protein: 10.1g

Fat: 26.7g

PORK PIE

Calories: 361kcal

Carbohydrates: 24.9g

Protein: 12.2g

Fat: 23.2g

SANDWICH WITHOUT PICKLES AND BEETROOT

Calories: 296kcal

Carbohydrates: 25.9g

Protein: 17.3g

Fat: 11g

What does the law say about pubs serving a ‘substantial meal’?

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (Very High) (England) Regulations 2020

Requirement to close businesses selling alcohol for consumption on the premises 16.

(1) A person responsible for carrying on a business of a public house, bar or other business involving the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises must cease to carry on that business, unless paragraph (2) applies.
(2) This paragraph applies if alcohol is only served for consumption on the premises as part of a table meal, and the meal is such as might be expected to be served as the main midday or main evening meal, or as a main course at either such meal.
(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)—
(a) alcohol sold by a hotel or other accommodation as part of room service is not to be treated as being sold for consumption on its premises;
(b) an area adjacent to the premises of the business where seating is made available for customers of the business (whether or not by the business), or where customers gather to drink outside the business, is to be treated as part of the premises of that business.
(4) For the purposes of this paragraph, a ‘table meal’ is a meal eaten by a person seated at a table, or at a counter or other structure which serves the purposes of a table and is not used for the service of refreshments for consumption by persons not seated at a table or structure serving the purposes of a table.

‘The measures we’re taking are all about trying to break the cycle of infection and that doesn’t mean that every rule that we introduce and every requirement we put on people is perfectly consistent or might even be considered perfectly fair – indeed, they won’t be,’ he said.

He also said customers will not have to go home after finishing the final mouthful of their food but warned: ‘You can’t sit at a table all night ordering drink.’

Mr Eustice’s views on the Scotch egg are not the first time a minister has caused confusion over what constitutes a substantial meal.

Before England’s national lockdown, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick suggested that a Cornish pasty would count – but only if served with chips or salad.

‘If you would expect to go into that restaurant normally, or pub, and order a plated meal at the table of a Cornish pasty with chips or side salad or whatever it comes with, then that’s a normal meal,’ he said.

Asked about Mr Eustice’s comments yesterday, Downing Street insisted that the concept of a ‘substantial meal’ was well understood in the hospitality industry without saying whether that included a Scotch egg.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to spell out the difference between a ‘bar snack’ and a meal.

Pressed on whether the rules permit pints being served alongside sausage rolls, pork pies, or a ploughman’s lunch, he said: ‘I’m obviously not going to get into the detail of every possible meal.

‘But we’ve been clear: Bar snacks do not count as a substantial meal but it’s well established practice in the hospitality industry what does.’

However Dawn Hopkins, owner and landlady of the Rose Inn in Norwich was none the wiser.

‘There’s no clarity on it,’ she said. ‘I think we’d get some clarity if we could understand what the meaning of restricting people to a substantial meal would be. If there was any clarity on what that’s all about, that would be helpful.

‘It’s down to everyone’s interpretation and nobody really knows what they’re meant to be doing, nobody knows if they do serve a Scotch egg as a substantial meal if they’re going to get into trouble.’

Fancy a pint? You’ll have to buy a meal or a starter with chips – not just crisps… but a scotch egg will do

The Government has been accused of making it up as it goes along on the ‘substantial meal’ rule.

As a rule of thumb any bar snack or starter counts – as long as it comes with chips and/or a salad – with the exception of a scotch egg, which is fine on its own.

Pubs can remain open in areas under the most stringent rules – but only if they serve customers meals with their drinks. Those that just sell alcohol must close under ‘tier three’ or offer a takeaway service.

A substantial meal is defined loosely as something served as a main ‘breakfast, lunchtime or evening meal’

Here is what we know about what is and isn’t classed as a substantial meal:

Scotch egg – YES

George Eustice said the snack would constitute a ‘substantial meal’ under the rules which will only allow alcohol to be served with food in Tier 2 areas from Wednesday.

He told LBC Radio: ‘I think a Scotch egg probably would count as a substantial meal if there were table service. Often that might be as a starter but yes I think it would’.

Pasty – NO

In October Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick suggested that a Cornish pasty served with chips or salad would count – not on its own.

Sausage rolls and pork pies – NO

There is a growing row over whether pork pies and sausage rolls should be treated in the same way as a scotch. But alas, for now, they will not.

The Local Government Association said recently: ‘It would be difficult to argue that a single sausage roll or a snack pork pie constitutes a main meal, whereas if it was served plated with accompaniments such as vegetables, salad, potatoes it could be considered substantial.’

Sandwich – NO

Sandwiches are also banned – unless it is served with pickles, beetroot or a salad as a minimum ‘to justify that it was a table meal and not a mere snack from the bar’, legislation says.

Sausages on sticks – YES

The 1955 High Court case of Solomon v Green is central to this issue where the High Court ruled that sausages on sticks constituted a ‘substantial meal’.

Crisps and chips – NO

Diners will be required to eat ‘substantial meals’ rather than crisps, nuts or other bar snacks such as a bowl of chips.

Pizza – YES

Initially pubs and restaurants were warned that pizzas had to be sold whole rather than in slices to constitute a ‘substantial meal’.

Police told a Manchester bar to stop serving single slices of 22-inch pizza – before the force backed down.