http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4461888.stm
I'm not currently in a fit state to stay out late at the mo but I really appreciate being treated like an adult and have the ability to have a drink past 11pm without finding another venue.
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Brits: who's staying out longer for a drink then?
- Thread starter Blue Velvet
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4461888.stm
I'm not currently in a fit state to stay out late at the mo but I really appreciate being treated like an adult and have the ability to have a drink past 11pm without finding another venue.
11 o'bloody clock?Blue Velvet said:
Here the debate is whether pubs and clubs should get staggered closing hours of 2:00 3:00 and 4:00 AM so the soused punters don't all roll onto the streets at the same time.
I might stay out later on the odd occasion but I usually do my drinking in the afternoons to avoid the kiddies in the evening so I'm usually home well before 11.
I'm an old git and like a quiet drink sitting at a table
There will be people that just stay out and get more pissed but just because there are some idiots doesn't mean everyone should be treated like children. If we used the same principle for other things we would ban cars because some people drive like morons.
I'm an old git and like a quiet drink sitting at a table
There will be people that just stay out and get more pissed but just because there are some idiots doesn't mean everyone should be treated like children. If we used the same principle for other things we would ban cars because some people drive like morons.
CanadaRAM said:
Exactly...
Believe or not, it's only since 1995 that you could get a drink legally served in a pub in England between 3-7pm on a Sunday. Good grief.
My locals not even closing tonight, though they aren't selling drinks from 11 to 12 (offically) , unofficially though there is a 1hr lock in (last lock in ever i reckon if 24hr drinking kicks off without getting reversed in a few months)
(offically) , unofficially though there is a 1hr lock in (last lock in ever i reckon if 24hr drinking kicks off without getting reversed in a few months)
11pm closing was the thing that still hurts about moving from Scotland where the licensing hours were always more sensible.
I'm looking forward to being able to come out of the cinema or the theatre at 10.30 or so and go for a leisurely drink to finish the evening without having to go clubbing or to a late night dive.
But I can understand some of the concerns people have. For those who live in areas where the lager-culture is king, I'm not so sure it's a great plan; like they need more time to drink, fight, urinate in streets and throw up in doorways.
I'm looking forward to being able to come out of the cinema or the theatre at 10.30 or so and go for a leisurely drink to finish the evening without having to go clubbing or to a late night dive.
But I can understand some of the concerns people have. For those who live in areas where the lager-culture is king, I'm not so sure it's a great plan; like they need more time to drink, fight, urinate in streets and throw up in doorways.
i will be on out of hours support for the next week so i will not be able to take advantage of the extra hours at the bar for some time.but mark my words i WILL be out after next week
Well when I went out a couple of Mondays back everywhere closed up at 11 Would have been nice if some places had stayed open until at least 12
everywhere closed up at 11 Would have been nice if some places had stayed open until at least 12 I didn't realise that was coming into effect tonight.
Hmmm, still undecided about this whole 24-hour drinking thing. On the one hand it's nice to have longer opening hours and not be rushing to finish at 11, or having to queue to get into a club just to stay out later. On the other hand... I foresee a lot of trouble as the yob element milk it for all its worth; until the novelty wears off anyway.
Hmmm, still undecided about this whole 24-hour drinking thing. On the one hand it's nice to have longer opening hours and not be rushing to finish at 11, or having to queue to get into a club just to stay out later. On the other hand... I foresee a lot of trouble as the yob element milk it for all its worth; until the novelty wears off anyway.
i think 12 is a good time for pubs but not beyond then. clubs till 3 that is it. it will cause chaos.
i dont mind the likes of tesco being able to sell it 24 hours.
lets see what happens in a year shall we then point and laugh at the government. its fact that the politcal elite have been worried about the drinking problem (binge drinking) since more than 2000 years ago. when the romans first invaded they were shocked how people got pissed on meade and then went and beat people up.
victoria was shocked and wanted to ban alcohol all together!
now, when will they get around to sorting out the smoking problem (waits for a war of words to break out)
i dont mind the likes of tesco being able to sell it 24 hours.
lets see what happens in a year shall we then point and laugh at the government. its fact that the politcal elite have been worried about the drinking problem (binge drinking) since more than 2000 years ago. when the romans first invaded they were shocked how people got pissed on meade and then went and beat people up.
victoria was shocked and wanted to ban alcohol all together!
now, when will they get around to sorting out the smoking problem
(waits for a war of words to break out)
Blue Velvet said:
think of the number of pubs and the fact that people can be there drinking till whenever, everyone will have a different throwing out time how do you police it, because face it - fights do kick off quite frequently. at least with clubs - there are less of them and also clubs presently have longer opening hours.
im not arguing for this very well
is it just me who finds it a bit hipocritical that hte government wanted to apply the "police advice" when it was the terrorism laws but not when it comes to the 24 hour drinking thing? humm... funny that!
Everyone seems to assume that all pubs want to be open 24 hours. Plenty don't. All they want is the freedom to stay open past 11 when they still have customers without breaking the law. There are still pubs round my way that don't open on Sunday afternoons. They don't want to.
The problem is that the big drinking barns with their circuit drinking teenies will be open too long and that will give ALL pubs a bad name.
The problem is that the big drinking barns with their circuit drinking teenies will be open too long and that will give ALL pubs a bad name.
L
Lau
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Applespider said:
Yeah, when I moved to Scotland I fitted in to later hours very easily! Then when I came back down here it was hellish. It was really nice to have a leisurely dinner with my flatmates then at 11 or 12 pop out to our local and have an after dinner pint. Ah, those were the days. <becomes nostalgic>
Dietcokevanilla - I think you're right that there will be a bit of trouble until the novelty value wears off. I wonder how much of that will be because there's been such a huge fuss made of it, and the yobs think it's almost expected of them to cause trouble. Hopefully it'll wear off though.
I'm really looking forward to it. In Edinburgh, when pubs were open until 1am, there were also late night pubs open until 3 (5 during the festival
and I'd much rather go to a pub than a club. It's so irritating when you're having a nice relaxed pint and a chat with your friends and then have to make the decision whether to just go home or to go to a manky club - where the words 'nice' 'relaxed' and 'chat' don't apply any longer. 
dietcokevanilla said:On the other hand... I foresee a lot of trouble as the yob element milk it for all its worth; until the novelty wears off anyway.
But on the upside, they're so dumb that they'll drink themselves into a state of alcoholic poisoning... so it may be a positive thing.
Hmmmm....I never thought about the 'drinking themselves to death' angle. I guess as they're not former footballers they won't get a transplant liver wasted on them.
I'm orginally from Liverpool, and the closing times there were 2am - all thanks to Euro96, when a lot of licences got extended. After no problems most bars maintained them, so it was a shock for me going to Uni (and then living) in Newcastle, were all bars closed at the normal time. If you wanted to carry on the evening, you had to go to a club.
I definately would like the option to stay in a good bar later rather than go to a club, so I support the extension of opening hours. I know there will be issues to start with, but as the novelty factor wears off you'll see less problems.
And hopefully within a generation we will have a more continental approach to drinking - I'm thinking of Sweden in particular: I didn't got out with friends until 11pm some nights because there wasn't then need to go out and ram as much alcohol down your throat in a short period. So I can see what the Gov are aiming for... but it will take time.
But its great timing for my 30th a week Saturday!
I definately would like the option to stay in a good bar later rather than go to a club, so I support the extension of opening hours. I know there will be issues to start with, but as the novelty factor wears off you'll see less problems.
And hopefully within a generation we will have a more continental approach to drinking - I'm thinking of Sweden in particular: I didn't got out with friends until 11pm some nights because there wasn't then need to go out and ram as much alcohol down your throat in a short period. So I can see what the Gov are aiming for... but it will take time.
But its great timing for my 30th a week Saturday!
I appreciate that most people look forward to being treated as adults with more liberal opening hours and more relaxed drinking and think its a good idea.However I have seen academic surveys which correlate both opening hours and lower prices with the incidence of alcohol related health problems(I had a quick shifty but couldn't find them online).Alcohol related health problems are a huge drain on the NHS and the Social services.Whilst education and information is probably the eventual answer to this I'm sure many people don't realise the extent of the problem its not just homeless people and such,it affects all parts of society,lawyers,business people,politicans etc and especially the medical profession.I personally believe that this is caused by the dog eat dog capitalism that has enjoyed a revival over the last decade or so,people in jobs they hate who are alienated from there fellow humans are always going to reach for alcohol or other drugs.But hey ho thats just me.
Link to short article stating the College of Physicians view on this:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=7602005
Link to short article stating the College of Physicians view on this:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=7602005
Why not tighten up on serving people who are far to drunk for their own good, and increase security in city centre pubs?
mcmadhatter said:
I agree... pubs, bars, clubs etc need to take more responsibility for their patrons and their subsequent conditions after leaving their premises, luckily the type of establishments I end up in don't attract the beer boys and townies seemingly intent on doing nothing other than getting as pissed as fast as they can.
That said, I honestly believe that Central London is better than the rest of the country in this respect, London doesn't have one centre as such where everyone ends up so you don't end up with the en masse congregation of pissed people in a relatively confined area waiting to kick off.
These researchers are clearly talking out of their collective arses as the amount of alcoholism in Scandanavian countries (with very high alcohol taxes) seems to suggest otherwise.Peterkro said:
Besides, why should I and the majority of pub users (who don't get into fights, collapse in the street nor end up in A&E) have to be punished for those that do? If they can't handle their drink then tough. In the absence of any sort of responsibility for their own actions those who do cause trouble should have the book thrown at them.
One characteristic trait of an advanced alcoholic is that s/he is able to mimic his/her sober self alarmingly well.mcmadhatter said:
How would the level of drunkenness be decided?
Okay, I'll disappear now since this discussion is not relevant to me at all.
devilot said:
Because the main concern isn't the alcoholic who acts sober but isn't. It's the binge drinkers who go out with the sole purpose of drinking until they pass out (or near enough) with a kebab on the way home for dinner; pubs keep selling drink to them and happy hours (with 1/2 price drinks) help make it worse by getting them out earlier and drink promotions encourage them to drink more. The pubs are going to find it tough to spot the alcholic but they shouldn't be serving more alcohol to someone whose eyes are glazed, speech slurred and whom only the bar is holding up.
I agree with iGav that central London isn't actually too bad except just before Christmas when every office holds their Christmas party but in other towns/cities, I have friends who now rarely go out at weekends for a few drinks since the 'get trashed' mentality is so strong that by 10pm, the town centres are physically unpleasant.
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