Restrictions on pub opening hours tend to stay in place
The decision to restrict pub opening hours to 10pm will probably have only a marginal impact on COVID-19 infections. Certainly there have been cases in pubs but they are not the main or even amongst the most significant area.
There will of course be an impact on business and jobs about which the Government has so far proposed to do nothing.
The reason for the change is much more likely to centre around the understanding in many areas of public health, influenced in many cases by temperance campaigners, that drink and pubs are a bad thing full stop. Therefore any chance to reduce pub opening hours is a good thing. It’s a view. Another might be that society and its issues and problems are much more complex that.
I have covered these points here:
https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2020/09/22/on-temperance-pub-opening-hours-the-furlough/
More to the immediate point is that once restricted pub opening hours can take a long time to be liberalised again.
Much nineteenth century legislation related to who could brew or distil drink, who could sell it and on what premises.
With the rise of temperance campaigners pub hours started to be restricted. The 1872 Act capped closing times at midnight in towns and 11pm elsewhere.
When the First World War started hours were seriously restricted. The Defence of the Realm Act was passed in August 1914 and by 1916 there were extensive restrictions on the strength of beer and pub opening times. They were restricted to noon–3pm and 6:30pm–9:30pm.
The view was the drink and drunkenness hit the war effort. Whether this was true or not is another matter. The architect of the changes first as Chancellor and then as Prime Minister was Lloyd George who was an enthusiastic supporter of temperance.
A more positive development was the Carlisle State scheme where pubs in that town, a key area for munitions manufacture, were nationalised and run very successfully as model pubs.
Hours were changed again from time to time-and often varied locally- after the end of World War One but the afternoon break continued until the Licensing Act 1988 provided for all day opening. In particular that saw an end to the 12-2 and 7-10.30 restriction on Sundays.
In 2003 a further change saw opening beyond 23.00 allowed with the potential, little used, for a 24hr licence. The logic was that a set closing time meant everyone leaving pubs and bars at the same time with some issues as a result.
One hopes 10pm closing wont result in the same..
Leave a Reply