London, tomorrow:
5,200 extensions to pub/bar licenses approved in London, taking effect from midnight tonight. Of this, I generally approve - the 11pm closing being a prime example about how silly legislation can end up staying on the statute books far longer than necessary (it was only put in place to help the war effort 90 years ago, after all), and thus why governments - especially the current government - shouldn't be hasty to instigate new laws. But are the emergency services going to get the additional support and funding they will need to cope with the concurrent, inevitable rise in drunk people collapsing and/or beating each other up? Yeah... Right...
7 Comments:
Appropriate picture.
I think Hogarth's 'Beer Street' would be more accurate.
You're not the only one...
Nah, I'd go with Gin Lane. It's a good reminder that the OTT anti-drink rhetoric and associated moral panics have been with us for a long time. (Early 18th century it was Madam Geneva; late 20th century, Alcopops; now, rather than a specific drink it's this thing called Binge Drinking.)
I reckon in a few months time we'll be wondering what the fuss was about.
Seriously, does anyone really believe that there is a whole new group of people out there who have been well-behaved up until now but who are going to cause ructions now that pubs are allowed to open an extra hour or two?
However for the next few weeks we are going to be treated with sensational media reports of public drunkenness etc. As if it all starts this weekend.
I dunno - the market will doubtless kick in and most pubs will realise it's not worthwhile staying open much past 11 anyway.
As you say, the problem drunkards will likely be the same lot as they currently are, just more drunk. Which could - with any luck - mean they'll continue to shovel crappy lagers down their throats as fast as they can for as long as the pubs are open and drink themselves to death by Christmas. Then the rest of the population can get on with having a quiet drink or two in peace.
I do, however, reckon it's going to take more than just a few weeks (inevitably filled with sensationalist tabloid reporting and pictures of pissed-up slappers) to change the current drinking culture of many town/city centres. Could take years, at a push.
actually I'm not even sure that we'll ever fundamentally change the overall drinking culture here - it is fairly standard for an awful lot of people to go out and get as hammered as possible. The French, Italians, Spaniards, etc. never do that but a lot of us do.
However there are plenty of us who are a bit less frenetic in our drinking and this change should suit us. And, as I said I think the lunatics are already doing it every Friday and Saturday.
The little local round the corner from me (in Streatham but well out of sight of the High Road so only frequented by locals) has got a new licence till midnight Mon-Thu and till 1 at the weekend. It will be nice to have the choice even though I'm pretty sure I won't take them up on it all that often.
Post a Comment