Ivy owner Richard Caring says government is 'killing the country'

“The fact is, down the road there’s a volcano that is going to bubble over,” he said “The pain and suffering it is going to cause is horrific.”

While there were estimates that unemployment could soar to five million, he said, “It’s not going to be five million – it’s going to be more. I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. The government is killing the country right now and the hospitality industry is the frontline disaster.”

The paper said the intervention by Mr Caring, a Conservative Party donor who rarely gave interviews, would increase pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Mr Caring noted that several countries such as Italy and Greece had reduced the two-metre rule to one and a half metres for restaurants and others such as France to one.

“If they can do it elsewhere, why not here?,” he commented.

The Caring Foundation set up by Mr Caring and his wife Patricia has been supplying food to NHS workers, children and people in vulnerable communities.