The Houses of Parliament’s bars have been exempted from the UK’s 10pm coronavirus curfew

• The UK Parliament has been exempted from the national coronavirus 10pm drinking curfew.
• Members of Parliament have been allowed to continue drinking after bars and restaurants across the country close.
• Restrictions compelling the wearing of masks, and compulsory registration for drinkers also do not apply.
• The news follows scenes of large crowds on British streets and public transport as drinkers are all forced to leave pubs at the same time.
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Bars inside the UK’s Houses of Parliament have been exempted from strict new coronavirus restrictions requiring licensed premises to close at 10pm.

Boris Johnson announced earlier this month that all bars and restaurants in England would have to close their doors at 10pm in a bid to halt the current second wave of infections spreading across the country.

However, these rules do not apply to pubs, bars and restaurants inside the confines of the Houses of Parliament, the Times of London reported on Monday.

Other rules compelling drinkers to register their contact details upon entering bars as well as wearing masks when not sitting at a table also do not apply, the paper reported.

Parliamentary authorities have used an exemption in the rules allowing “workplace canteens” to sidestep the restrictions. 

The new rules have been hugely controversial due to scenes of large crowds piling onto town centres and public transport, with even members of Boris Johnson’s government questioning the rules.

One anonymous Conservative MP told Politico: “Which clown-faced moron thought it would be a good idea to kick thousands of pissed people out from the pubs into the street and onto the tube at the same time? It’s like some sort of sick experiment to see if you can incubate a second wave.”