The chancellor’s comments came on the day England reopened its beloved pubs and the rest of the hospitality sector after more than three months of lockdown.
Sunak said the nation had to “relearn what it’s like to go out again”, adding that the closures had been especially painful because consumption made up about two-third of its GDP.
“That’s more than most of our peers,” he told The Times.
“So we’ve got a situation like this, with social distancing we’re obviously going to be particularly impacted by that.”
Sunak said he was “worried about a generation that is scarred by coronavirus”, taking note of how unemployment hit the youth the hardest.
He added that there was no reason to “lose that generation… if we can get these next few bits right”.
“This is a consumption-driven economy; people used to, three months ago, go out with their friends or family to go and have a meal. Or buy a car, or upgrade their house, or move house. Go camping, come up to the Yorkshire Dales and go coast to coast,” said Sunak.
“Eat out to help out.”
Sunak believed the idea was “really about social justice”.
“People act responsibly, but ultimately if we eat out to help out we can protect those jobs. It’s not abstract.”
The true scale of Britain’s unemployment problem will only be revealed once the government starts winding down its jobs furlough scheme in August.
