UK ends 11 PM drink curfew

[SpeedRacer 1]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/23/england.drinking.ap/index.html

I know I'll probably get skewed results by asking a bunch of skydivers, but what do you think about this?

Some people are saying that drunken mobs will be raving thru all hours of the night.

Others say that the end of the restrictive law will mean that drinkers will no longer be pounding drink-after-drink from 10 PM til 11, & it should cut down on "binge drinking".

What do you think?

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[kallend 1,648]

I think it will just spread the drunk drivers out over a longer time frame.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Stumpy 256]

I think in the short term it will be chaos because evryone one will go mad for it, but in the long term it will be a good thing. I worked in a 24 hour pub in Sydney a while back, and it made for a good atmosphere, more relaxed bars, and less aggro. The police are reasonably happy about it i believe because their biggest problem with pubs at the moment is kicking out time - there are too many people all appearing outside and getting aggro at exactly the same time. They can't effectively resource up to that demand unless they massively overresourced for the rest of the night. So this should spread that problem.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[mr2mk1g 10]

I think it is *most likely* going to solve many of the problems. I think that those who complain most vociferously about the possible negative results of this change have not themselves participated in Friday/Saturday night down-town drinking in many many years if ever.

I have been out drinking. I know what goes on. I've also had a continental girlfriend and note her observations on UK drinking habits and the problems they cause.

1) People drink fast because they have to get their booze in before "time" is called. People buy a number of drinks when "time" is called to see them through to drinking up time. When drinking up time is called hundreds of people spill out onto the pavement all at once.

2) People don't go home when they want - they simply wait till closing time them everyone goes home at once. This leads to general congestion and arguments over cabs/kebabs. If there was no fixed closing time people would simply go when they got tired. This would lead to a staggered leaving time and there would be far fewer people competing over the same services.

3) People start drinking much earlier than they do on the continent. Here it's not unusual for people to hit the pubs straight after work. There's little wonder they're pissed of their faces by 2am if they've been drinking since 5pm. If they could stay out later they could go home and eat there before heading out later as they do on the continent. It is not unusual for people to not head out to the club till going on what would be a UK pub's kicking out time.

I adopted this timescale for a while during my relationship with the continental young lady (as there have long been a limited number of clubs in the UK with licenses to stay open right through the night. This is where the continental folks tend to congregate as it matches their home timescales.

Go out later and you end up more sober at 2am. By 5am there aren't the crowds where trouble starts because the majority of people have drifted home in small numbers during the night.

4) It's been this way now in Scotland for some time as well as in certain test cities in England. It's worked very well there.

I say *most likely* at the start because I may be wrong – I can't see into the future after all. But then this legislation will be subject to review. If it's not working things will go back to the way they were.

(sorry: above = brain dump).

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"It's been this way now in Scotland for some time as well as in certain test cities in England. It's worked very well there. "

Indeed, works a treat, in Scotland anyways.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[SpeedRacer 1]

I've always been surprised that England had this 11 PM restriction to begin with, and we don't have it here in the USA. I usually think of the USA as having too many state-issued personal-morality laws.

Anyway, here in the USA in many cities, many pubs are open 'til 2 AM on the weekends. So that spreads out the exodus from the pubs quite a bit, since most people will leave the bar voluntarily before then. There's plenty of time to have dinner, then go out & leisurely drink what you want & listen to bands, etc.

I'd say our problems involve too much urban sprawl (stupid zoning laws & city design) combined with meager public transportation, both contributing to drunk driving. [not to mention obesity (because you can't walk anywhere), pollution, & excessive fuel consumption].

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[mr2mk1g 10]

Quote

I've always been surprised that England had this 11 PM restriction to begin with, and we don't have it here in the USA. I usually think of the USA as having too many state-issued personal-morality laws.

It's got less to do with morality and more to do with not causing explosions the morning after the night before in your WWI munitions factory (which is the origin of our 11pm closing time). I'm glad the govt. has finally realised we no longer have many people filling artillery rounds by hand in this country.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

I still suffer occasional explosions the morning after, especially after a night on Nookie Broon, or Guinness, or a Stella and vindaloo frenzy.

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[shropshire 0]

I agree with the posts here that suggest/hope that it will smooth out the current peaks in some drinkers (A.K.A Binge drinking) - Let's hope so. Here in the U.K we have a fairly large problem with this at the moment and I seems to be keeping 'normal' people out of town centres of an evening.

Although, todays' press is suggesting that the take up of these new licensing hours have been low (so far).

On the other hand, if you live near to a pub' then you will likely take a different view... Time will tell.


.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[artistcalledian 0]

it won't effect me... i'l just carry on doing illegal drugs, as opposed to the legal drug of alcohol

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[shropshire 0]

You probably need to take them with more water

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[artistcalledian 0]

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[miked10270 0]

The real kicker is whether England's drinking culture changes as a result of the licensing law changes.

At present, all England (and some parts of scotland whose licensing boards don't understand 4am closing) drinks "Against The Clock" - witha 11pm curfew.

When I moved up to Edinburgh, a city with superbly enlightened licensing hours (no drink between 4.30 - 4.45am) my drinking habits changed radically in that it was in fact later & less! I would go out later & go home when I wanted to and thus drank a lot slower.

I'd guess that at first there are some who assume that 24 hour opening means 24 hour drinking... But they won't last long.

I'll bet that this'll work in the long run.

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.