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For nearly a century, drinkers in Britain's frosted-glass, red-velvet, gin-palace pubs have known exactly when it was time to go home at the end of a night out. At a quarter to 11, a bell would ring as a barman yelled, "Last orders!" followed 15 minutes later by another bell and the call: "Time please, gentlemen."

After that, there was nothing for drinkers to do but to go home, some urged out on the street with stern admonitions to "drink up, sir."
But as of Thursday, the cry of "Time please, gentlemen!" need not be heard again. Under a new, more liberal Licensing Act, Britain's pubs can stay open as late as they want — with a bit of negotiating with the neighbors.

Britons who know that drinkers across the English Channel can go on sipping red wine until the early hours have been demanding longer pub hours here throughout living memory.

The old legislation was widely mocked as bossily prescriptive for modern times. The complaint has some justification, because the restrictions were originally imposed during World War I to keep the working population steady, on its feet and clocking in at munitions factory jobs.

However, if Prime Minister Tony Blair and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell thought they were only doing what the voters wanted by giving the public more choice about when to drink, the last few months must have come as a nasty shock. The legislation — which the government said would decrease alcoholism and drunken violence by stopping binge drinking brought on by the 11 p.m. deadline — has instead been sharply criticized. ...

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[ 25 November 2005: Message edited by: obscurantist ]

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I like the old laws, which appear a bit quaint on the surface. They were written when breweries were small and pubs family owned.

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That being said, the buying up of pubs by management companies sucks ass, no question there.

It's day two now, no major madness in Her Majesty's Royal Burgh of Eoforwich yet. At least, nothing beyond the usual madness that obtains every weekend. Edit: I should be on the record saying that I think broader opening hours are a good idea, the aggression involved in pushing people out the door sharply at 11:20PM as mandated by law gets my pacifist back up, nevermind some shaven-headed white-shirt-wearing brute in town for a qwick point anna foight aftrwrds. This'll spread the drunks out over a wider space of time and not put them on the street angry 'cause they've had to abandon their final pint of Stella.

Curiously, the majority of 24-hour licenses sought have been from SUPERMARKETS, who want to be open to sell liquor for as long as possible. Do you think they've got a big markup on drinkeepoo's?

[ 25 November 2005: Message edited by: aRoused ]