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Britain Moves to End Traditional 'Last Call' at
Pubs, Allow 24-Hour Alcohol Service
By Todd Richissin, The Baltimore Sun
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News 

Jun. 17, 2003 - LONDON -- The night's last subway car leaving Piccadilly Circus, the rollicking center of London's night life, is like a rolling drunk tank. The odor of beer, booze and cigarettes hangs in the air. If nobody has become sick, somebody is about to. Maybe a fight breaks out. And in contrast to daytime hours, when speaking in a subway car is about as welcome as whistling in church, uninhibited conversations are nearly loud enough to drown out the screech of the steel wheels. 

That could all change soon. Hoping to curtail the funneling of drunks from pubs to the streets -- and in London to the subway -- the House of Commons voted last night to allow the nonstop serving of alcohol, sending "last call" in the direction of the gentleman's bowler. If approved by the House of Lords, 24-hour pubs could become reality next month. 

Opponents of the legislation, proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, say it could sharply reduce the number of traditional English pubs. The measure is a "quality of life" issue, its backers insist, designed to reduce binge drinking and the flood of boozers who regularly spill onto streets a few staggers after 11 p.m., when most bars in Britain close. 

"This is not to encourage more drinking but to encourage smarter drinking," said Gail Robinson, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports, which would oversee the change. "Our drinking laws are antiquated, and we want to create a more civilized and responsible culture in the country's pubs and bars." 

While the legislation has become known by its shorthand of "24-hour pubs," few owners are expected to ask for permission to open their taps nonstop. Instead, the law will allow pubs to stay open as late as local councils permit, taking that decision away from magistrates, historical killjoys who, for the most part, have tended to adhere strictly to tradition. 

A limited number of bars now stay open past 11 p.m. -- some serve alcohol as late as 3 a.m. -- but exemptions are rare, the conditions strict, and the establishments typically charge a steep cover charge and are populated by teen-agers who hold their liquor like Jell-O. 

The web of laws governing drinking in Britain is as tangled as ball of knots, governed by more than 80 different licenses that are granted depending on whether food is served, dancing is permitted, admission is free and, most of all, whether neighbors object to one thing or another. 

Neighbors can object if a bar requests a late license, but now the proof that no booze is better than late booze would shift to those against it, rather than "publicans," as they are known here, who have had to hire attorneys to build a case that their establishments would cause no harm. 

"The 24-hour opening does not necessarily appeal to us," said Jeremy Probert, a spokesman for Mitchells Butler, which owns about 2,100 drinking establishments in Britain, including several hundred in London. "What we are hoping this will do is allow people to enjoy pubs more knowing that they have more time over their drinks. 

"When I'm coming out of the theater, I would be very grateful to know that I have a couple of hours to have a glass of wine, perhaps, and discuss what was good or bad about the play." 

He said the later hours would create a new brand of customer, older than the club kids, who do not want to travel into city centers if the only establishment they feel comfortable in closes at 11. 

Likewise, the working stiffs have nothing against an hour or two more in the sanctuary of the pub after a hard day's toil. 

In London, the workday tends to end at 6 or 7 p.m., leaving office workers precious little time to chomp down some bangers and mash and get their fill of brew. The result: Shortly before 11 p.m., many customers gulp down their drinks as if they are drowning, raising their hands to be saved by a bartender with a fresh pint in her hand. 

"For me, it wouldn't mean any difference at all, not at my age," said Richard Bain, 41, who was downing a beer at 4 p.m. "For someone working odd hours, it's a different story. The government needs to start treating people like adults." 

His friend Peter Hanson, 35, explained: "See, if you're not in a pub till 11 and you have to take public transport home, you get on one of those trains and you're the only one sober, the rest are drunken hooligans." 

Every drinker is sure -- until he sobers up -- that he is a near-genius. Many line up two and three drinks on the bar just before closing time, because the law mandates only that drinks not be served after 11, it says nothing about when they are consumed. 

Others, at 11:01, will argue with the bartender that they were waiting for her to come around for, well, a full two minutes. 

"It causes us a lot of hassles and loses us a lot of money," said Antonella Festa, a manager at the King George, a traditional pub in the heart of Piccadilly Circus. "There are a million rules to follow, and the magistrates are stingy with the licenses. Anything that will make things easier for us and for our customers we're in favor of." 

With longer pub hours, it is hoped, drinkers will take a more-sophisticated approach to drinking, appreciating their beverages for the taste and not the punch, lingering over them as they socialize rather than pounding them down and becoming unsociable. 

Most of Europe has later drinking hours. In France, especially, the bars and restaurants begin filling at 10 p.m. and later, not emptying. There is no single time of the night when everybody empties from the bars, no tradition of people riding the happy train as occurs under the streets of London. 

But part of the opposition to keeping the bars open later is tradition itself, if not the drunken train rides, then the actual pubs. Traditional English pubs, with their low tables and low chairs, with their curvy booths and paneled walls, are unlike those found in the United States or most places in the world. The fear among some is that later hours will mean the loss of the traditional pub in favor of the generic bars of elsewhere. 

"It used to be the bartender would say, 'No, sorry, my lad, you've had enough, now go on home,'" said Olga Calmam, 72, who lives in the northern London neighborhood of Camden, which has no shortage of bars. "Now they try to get them to drink as much as possible. 

"If everybody was going to drink leisurely, I'd be all in favor of 24 hours," she said. "But I know they'll just go bar to bar to bar." 

-----To see more of The Baltimore Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sunspot.net 

(c) 2003, The Baltimore Sun. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. MLB, 


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