Top chef who media reported had banned Mark Drakeford from restaurant was just joking

A top chef who the media reported had banned Mark Drakeford from his restaurant was just joking, he said.

Tommy Heaney, who runs a popular Heaneys restaurant in Cardiff, had joked that the First Minister of Wales was banned because of covid restrictions on selling alcohol on the premises.

But after the media ran stories on the ‘banning’ he said that it had just been a joke and that he backed Mark Drakeford, who had an “extremely tough job on his hands”.

The new rules that placed restrictions on the entertainment and hospitality sector came into force at 6pm last night.

Tommy Heaney, tweeted saying: “Right it’s decided, I’ve given this a lot of thought over the past few weeks and I’ve come to the decision that Mr Drakeford is officially the first person to be banned from Heaneys.

“He’s been given 14 days to review his actions and appeal.”

After his words were reported by the press he said: “Guys thank you all for your words of support but just to confirm, this is not actually serious.

“Although we may not agree with the measures put in place we still support that Mr Drakeford has a extremely tough job on his hands, and I certainly wouldn’t like to be in his shoes.”

‘Frustration’

Yesterday the First Minister defended stopping pubs from selling alcohol and forcing them to close by 6pm from tonight, saying Wales was under the equivalent of Tier 3 restrictions in England.

“I want to be clear that if we were in another part of the UK, our coronavirus situation would mean we would be subject to the English Tier 3 regime or Level 3 restrictions in Scotland,” he said.

“It is my responsibility to do whatever is needed to protect the lives of people in Wales. Your government will always discharge its duties on your behalf.”

Drakeford said that Wales was “now experiencing an unmistakeable rise in coronavirus once again”.

He added that the last week had seen a record number of coronavirus-related patients in hospital.

“Coronavirus is putting our health service under significant and sustained pressure,” he said.