British Politics Betting Odds: Eat Out To Help Out scheme to be brought back 16/1 with bookmakers!

The Eat Out To Help Out scheme is 16/1 to be brought back.

Eat Out To Help Out was a scheme brought in by the Government back in August 2020 to get customers 50% off their bill on Monday's, Tuesday's and Wednesday's throughout the month. 

The discount was capped at £10 per person and over 52,000 businesses took advantage of the scheme which at the time was rumoured to continue for longer.

The Government however did pull the plug at the end of August 2020 for it and it hasn't returned since, but the impact of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus could see a return.

With odds of 16/1 though, bookmakers suggest that there's not a massive chance that this happens in 2022, with implied probability of 5.9%.

Eat Out To Help Out facts

The scheme was an overall success amongst customers and businesses for the money that was spent and saved.

A few facts around the August 2020 scheme:

• The average discount per meal claimed for was £5.24
• £849m had been claimed through the scheme by the end of September 2020
• 55% of the discount that was claimed by business were restaurants, with a further 28% by pubs
• More than 100m meals were claimed through the Scheme.

At the time of the figures being announced, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said, "Today's figures continue to show that Eat Out To Help Out has been a success." 

Did Eat Out To Help Out scheme cause new Covid infections?

A stumbling block for the reintroduction of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme could be the rise of Omicron infections across the UK.

Key findings from scientists at the CAGE Research Centre at the University of Warwick last year saw a contribution to a rise of infections in COVID during August 2020 by participating businesses.

Scientists suggest that between 8 and 17% of newly detected COVID-19 infections can be attributed to the scheme itself.

This may cause Prime Minister Boris Johnson to not even think about reintroducing the scheme, as a a similar impact this time around would be hard to control with the latest variants that are going around in the UK.