Pub restrictions in Wales, temperance & Teetotal Chartism
From 6pm on Friday the Welsh Government has decided that all pubs in Wales cannot sell alcohol on the premises until further notice (take-away is fine if there is off-licence).
There are also restrictions on restaurants, cinemas and so on.
COVID-19 infections in some parts of Wales remain high and the move is stated to be aimed at reducing them. It would be worthwhile if it worked.
The move has found few supporters because there is no apparent evidence beyond the anecdotal or unverifiable comparisons with other countries to suggest that it will work. Addressing infection rates in schools and workplaces would almost certainly have more impact but restricting pubs is easier it seems.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55193395
There have been suggestions that the move is linked to temperance politics which have a long tradition in Wales. That may be an element of it but probably not the central one as there is no attempt to actually restrict alcohol sales or consumption except in pubs.
There is however some degree of prejudice against those who drink in pubs coming largely one suspects from those who rarely frequent them.
BBC Wales has posted a good summary of the history of Welsh temperance to the First World War. There is certainly more to be said about the post-1918 period:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55158837
Interestingly the report touches on Teetotal Chartism that was part of the wider Chartist movement in the late 1830s and 1840s.
It was associated with the right-wing of the movement perhaps particularly because underlying it was the idea that the vote would somehow be won if working men could show themselves to be sober and industrious rather than by organised collective action.
The Chartist leader Feargus O’Connor denounced Teetotal Chartism and other similar projects as “trick, farce, cheat or humbug”, while the leader of the Chartist left Ernest Jones noted speaking in Manchester on 20th October 1850 “Some will tell you that teetotalism will get you the Charter: the Charter don’t lie at the bottom of a glass of water.”
I support effective action to bring down COVID infections. Hopefully there is some reality behind the impact of pub restrictions and not just prejudice and politics. We shall of course see.
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