24 Hour Chaos?
Is it just me or are other people beginning to smell the whiff of media disappointment that the country has yet to collapse into anarchy as a result of new laws allowing people to drink around the clock? In fact, this so-called liberalisation of our drinking laws is looking more and more like a damp squib. Indeed, it has brought back memories of a certain song we all know and love. Gawd Bless Bill Haley:
“One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock, drink?” Maybe.
“Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock, drink?” Looking rather unlikely.
“Nine, ten, eleven o’clock, twelve o’clock, drink?” I don’t think so.
“We’re gonna drink around the clock tonight?” If you want to die, then go ahead.
People seem to have lost all touch with reality over this story. We know there is an issue with drinking culture in this country. Yet, it is not really something we can address with legislation. Nevertheless, there should be no reason why a small minority should be allowed to give justification for resisting the long overdue overhaul of our drinking laws. Why should the government, in our allegedly liberal democracy, tell us when it’s time for us to go home?
I strongly believe that these licensing laws will not make the situation any worse. We’ve all seen the statistics that most places have applied for just one or two hour extensions. The number of 24-hour pubs is going to be measured in hundreds, maybe one or two in most urban districts, and certainly not in rural areas. Yet, how many times have I seen the vox pops on local media, and even on national TV, that are full of people seeming to think that the government has passed laws which will make every pub open 24 hours. Are people really that stupid? I’ve heard so many expressions of sympathy for landlords that will have to stay open all the time when there might be no one there. Ummm…
There’s also the physical aspect. If it takes 10 pints to get you drunk, and 15 to get you roaringly drunk, then it is still going to take exactly the same amount if you are in a 24-hour pub. You literally cannot drink non-stop. You Will Die. It’s as simple as that. If you are going out with the goal of getting drunk, then you will likely achieve it. If you are going out with the goal of not getting drunk, then an extra hour of opening time is probably not going to convince you to get drunk. And in any case, it is a poor landlord who keeps serving someone who is truly wasted. It’s not in their interests to have the place full of half-dead people.
There is also the issue of economics, which is the main reason why most pubs are not bothering to seriously extend their licences. There are just not enough people around at these times to outweigh the overheads and labour costs that an extra four hours or so might produce.
And besides… nightclubs have been able to serve drinks until well into the night with late licences for years. I hate nightclubs. Why do I have to go to a nightclub, paying extortionate entry fees for somewhere that might be crap, just to carry on drinking if I want to stay out a little later? It would be much easier if my local could open just that bit longer, especially as pubs tend to have better atmospheres than nightclubs. What if I worked odd shift patterns, and my life didn’t fit neatly into the 9-5 bedlam?
The nonsense drummed up by the media on this one is wholly unjustified. The simple truth is that we already have a binge drinking culture in places in this country. You can’t get drunk, and then get drunk again. You can’t get drunk, sober up, get drunk, and sober up, again and again over a period of 24-36 hours without suffering pretty dire consequences. People need to sleep eventually. People do have jobs to go to. People who don’t have jobs won’t suddenly have extra money to get drunk more often now the law has changed. Some people get around the law by stocking up on alcohol well in advance from supermarkets or off-licences anyway.
Solving the binge drinking culture requires a reassessment of drinking pricing, drinking advertisements and people’s attitudes. The only problem with the latter is that it is difficult to do, and I don’t claim to have much of an idea of where to start. Yet, if the logic that more drinking hours will equal more binge drinking is true, then it should also mean that restricting drinking hours to a few in the day, or maybe even abolishing it altogether, will solve the problem. I think we’ve been down that road before.
It all adds up to make this the biggest non-event of the year. In the meantime, enjoy the extra freedom to drink at your own leisure and at your own pace! In these days of continuous civil liberties restriction, we should celebrate anything that gives us more power over our own lives, even if it is just a little change. Might come in handy when we’re drinking Victory Gin in a few decades time…
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I’m from Scotland, and I’ve drunk in bars in Ayr from 7 am and in others (in my native Edinburgh) until 4 am. But this law was made by New Labour, and for the benefit of someone, in all probability the supermarkets. But in the name of freedom? choice? trust in the people? They don’t believe in any of that stuff. We Scots can drink all of the day and all of the night, and at the end exchange Glasgow kisses. If New Labour liberalised it, they want a way to tax it.
Me, I want to give Gordon a warm Scottish greeting. Maybe two or three.
As for the “you cannot drink non-stop”, my memory may be playing me false here, but I’m sure Jack Kerouac tried that one: he drank two days straight, and woke covered in shit curled round a toilet. (I think it’s in “On the Road.”) But it’s do-able. Jimmy Greaves, George Best and others played top level football after a breakfast of vodka. The human body adapts.
There was a brewer in the Torygraph yesterday, who said that the same effect could have been achieved by deregulation. And I agree. The old licencing hours were the interfering government from WWI. We didn’t need them. They weren’t the government’s business. If they had beaten an honest retreat — “We won’t bother your pleasures any more” — I’d be all for this. But this is the government which think a quiet fag is a crime.
I rant about this all the time. The Nazis banned fox hunting. And smoking. And then they gassed the jews.
Contra Hegel, some us learned from history. Blair has never done anything for the common good. He’s always been prostrate before power, whether he’s called it God or the USA. The World According to Leo Blair.
If it were up to me, we’d legalise everything, prostitution (because what else is marriage — and that’s Mary Shelley), hard drugs, guns, 24 hour drinking. I’m as keen on this gesture as a gladiator is on an Emperor’s thumb’s up. We all have to go through it again.
What was it the Clash sang? ” They wore the black flag; they sang the red one”? Let’s rise like lions from the slumber. “What do we have to lose?” “Our chains” In unvanquishable number. Freedom. Not because they let us. But because they can’t stop us.
Let’s rise and mash Blair’s knees with crowbars. Rape his arse with smashed bottles. He was all for liberation, and that’s how liberated countries ask questions, so these aren’t obsence actions: these are necessary. After all, terrorist suspects may have ordered bombings. Of course, Blair never ordered anyone killed. And I wouldn’t ask for his death, for I, like Vladimir Putin (or indeed, Blair’s fellow god-botherer, Torquemada), believe in decency. I’m not advocating violence. I’m just saying “do unto them as they do unto others” and that happens to include electrocution and rape with bottles. There may be a moral there somewhere.
I disagree that drinking should be curbed by higher prices. I rarely drink in pubs these days as I cannot afford it and I have (for the most part) always been a sensible drinker.
When I was first learning how to drink, most alcoholic beverages did not appeal to the immature palate. Beer was bitter, wine was sour and whisky hurt on the way down. You had to take it slow and learn how to drink. At the same time, you learned your limits. Also, these ‘interesting’ alcohols were self limiting. You usually started to get uncomfortable before you got paralytic.
This did not suit the modern drinks industry. They have carefully formulated drinks that you don’t need to grow into. Not just alcopops, but insipid, sweet, hopless beers that are easy to swig. There is no rough to go with the smooth. It is simply possible to drink them too fast without noticing.
Of course, there is no way that the State can intervene here (though a Minister for Decent Beer would not be a bad thing).
Can’t remember who it was, but on Radio 4 they interviewed someone yesterday who said it would take 6-8 months to understand the impact of the law changes.
I very much suspect in 6-8 months nobody will talk about this any more apart from a few politicians trying to score points using some specific event (last night there was a fight at my local pub at 2:00am, so the whole of the UK must have descended into anarchy…).
Anyone remember the floods of immigrants we would see coming to the UK when the new countries joined the EU?
On the point about the price of drinks, I was talking about the outrageously cheap promotions that you can often find in Studentland, e.g. £8 entry and all drinks are free, £1 for alcopops, etc. Those really are irresponsible.
Of course, there is no way that the State can intervene here
It could have a go.
Eddie well said, new Labour are right, the Daily Mail, Tories and Lib Dems (liberal?) have made themselves look a laughing stock. These parties are only liberal when it suits rich people.
Ban advertising and increase tax on alcohol if you want to reduce alcohol consumption.