24-hr ‘alcoholic Big Bang’ stirs debate in UK

London: The time-honoured tradition of the “last orders” call urging revellers to down their last drink by the 11 p.m. deadline will vanish from British pubs this week.

The uniquely British way of calling time on a good night out had over the years incurred the wrath of many and seemed quaintly out of step with the lifestyle of an otherwise modern nation.

Licensing laws had not changed since 1915, when hours were tightened to stop factory workers from turning up drunk and thus harming the war effort during World War One.

It is hardly surprising therefore that the revolutionary changes brought in by the Labour government to allow “24-hour drinking” have unleashed a soul-searching debate about the nation’s drinking habits.

While the government maintains that the relaxation in opening hours which goes into effect November 24 will “promote responsible drinking”, critics predict an “alcoholic Big Bang” that will signal an explosion of drink-induced chaos and disorder in the streets.

The new licensing laws, which also apply to bars and supermarkets, give pubs greater flexibility about when they can shut their doors. Most of the 90,000 pubs in England and Wales have applied to stay open for an extra one or two hours at weekends, rather than opening round the clock, government figures show.

The key question in the debate is whether the habit of binge drinking, particularly widespread among young people and women, will be fuelled or curbed by the extended hours.

Critics, including the police, researchers and sociologists, fear that anti-social behaviour, with its disturbing consequences of drinkers vomiting or brawling in the night-time streets, will be encouraged by the longer hours.

Researchers at the University of the West of England concluded that reforms to relax licensing laws in Australia, Iceland and Ireland had increased disorder.

But the government, promising a harsh police clampdown, believes that later and more flexible closing could eventually reduce consumption by stopping people rushing to finish their drinks, and avoid drinkers spilling on to the streets all at the same time. Ministers point to more liberal laws in parts of Europe as evidence of how late hours can encourage people not to binge.

“It is fanciful to think we can turn ourselves into a French-style wine tippling culture merely by abolishing licensing regulations,” said Professor Ian Gilmore from the Royal College of Physicians, a chief critic of the government’s plans.
According to the Institute of Alcohol Studies, British alcohol consumption per capita ranked 9th among selected countries, behind France, but ahead of Australia and the US.

However, Britons drink twice as much today as they did in the 1950 and if trends continue they will overtake the French in about two years.

The exact impact of alcohol abuse is hard to measure, but a 2003 report put the figure at £20 billion a year, including the health service, policing and the economy.

It is, however, the statistical fact that British teenagers are among the biggest boozers in Europe. This worries researchers and social workers.

The government hopes that the greater freedom and flexibility of time for revellers will have an “educational effect” and encourage “social drinking”.

British Home Secretary Charles Clarke conceded that drinking habits could not be changed overnight: “It will be a long journey but we must take a first step.”

Daily News & Analysis ~ November 22, 2005