With current social media discussion about queueing at the bar in pubs (or not) its interesting to note that in 1948 Parliament debated standing at the bar, a perhaps related activity..
Below is an extract from a Commons debate on the 1948 Licensing Bill (14th December 1948). A key measure in the Bill was to extend the Carlisle State Management scheme of pubs and breweries to the New Towns which were then in the process of being built. The idea was to plan the provision of pubs to meet the new population. The Bill became law in 1949 but was not acted on and was repealed after the Tories returned to Office in 1951.
I wasnt aware that standing at the bar was not allowed in the Carlisle Scheme but it seems commensurate with the regulated drinking environment the Scheme had.
The right hon. Gentleman may like sitting down when he has his drink, but the ordinary person may, occasionally, want to stand at the bar. He does not want to be told when standing at the bar that he must either sit down or get out. For heaven’s sake let the right hon. Gentleman be human in this matter. I know that all these considerations are not important political facts, but they are important pieces of human nature and human conduct in the ordinary affairs of life, and that is what we are standing for here.
Sir Maxwell D Fyfe (Tory MP Liverpool West Derby) responding to Herbert Morrison (Labour, Lord President of the Council) on municipally owned pubs
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