Longer nights for pub crawlers in U.K.

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MAY 6. In the old days, they wouldn't even give you an inch fearing that you might ask for a mile. In today's post- modern societies, however, you are likely to get a mile to start with, the assumption being that denying people what they want is an invitation to trouble. In the end they would get what they want anyway even if it means making a nuisance of themselves, so why kick up a fuss?

This is the logic behind the British Government's decision to remove restrictions on closing hours for pubs and shops selling alcohol. Under a new plan pubs and booze shops in England and Wales would be open round-the-clock; and minors would not be automatically barred from a pub though they would still be expected to keep off the headier stuff. The idea is to discourage binge drinking which is believed largely to be a result of the fear of the ``gong'' and the barman calling for the last order.

Minutes before the closing time, people - particularly the young drinkers - tend to accelerate drinking (``make that a double, would you? And, yes, I'll have one more after this'') in order to beat the clock and end up consuming a lot more in a short time than they would if they were not watching the clock. The result: disorderly scenes, people going sick all over the place and nasty hangovers, not to mention street brawls.

The Government expects that once pubs and alcohol shops are open round-the-clock, people would be psychologically more relaxed, knowing that they can buy a drink whenever they like. They needn't tank up for fear of missing out on that extra drink. ``Eventually we would hope to encourage the more sensible drinking culture seen in some other European countries. The ritual of late-night drinkers pouring on to streets at closing time, with its subsequent crime and disorder problems, has been an unwelcome tradition for far too long in our towns and cities,'' Mr. Mike O'Brien, a Home Office Minister said.

The plan, which is expected to be implemented only next year once Labour has nicely settled in its second term in office, has cheered pub-crawlers but not everyone is happy. Some local council authorities fear that far from containing social disorder, the no-holds-barred drinking may actually add to it. ``A 24-hour drinking culture means 24-hour street cleansing and policing,'' according to one official who suggested that pubs which wanted to run a round-the-clock service should cough up the cost of additional policing and street-cleaning.

The Times had bad news for those who might be expecting to be able to ``pop along to their local village pub for a quick 5 a.m. sharpener'' because its own intelligence suggested that not many pubs, particularly in smaller places, were likely to opt for the 24-hour facility. ``Although the majority of pubs are likely to take advantage of the opportunity to serve drinks for one or possibly two more hours at night, few will seek to stay open longer. The 24-hour pub is likely to be restricted to the largest cities,'' it said.

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