LONDON: Britain will have relaxed pub rules. A last minute bid by the Conservatives to halt the introduction of 24-hour drinking failed as their motion was defeated 302 to 228 at the Commons today.
The new licensing act, which comes into force on 24 November, allows pubs to apply to stay open for longer hours. The department for culture, media and sport has received applications, which indicate that 70 per cent of the 81,000 pubs in England and Wales wanted their existing licences amended. But this need not be for extended hours. Most of them want to stay open for an hour or two during weekends. A small number of pubs have applied for 24-hour licences.
Critics say the relaxation would lead to increased alcohol-caused violence, which is contested by the proponents of the law arguing the extended hours will help evolve matured drinking habits, while at the same time give the police powers to handle irresponsible behaviour.
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell said after the vote that the police need the powers that the new act will give them.
The Conservative motion could not get enough support even among the partymen. This is in spite of the fact that the Tories had defeated the government in the Lords last night on a motion calling for a delay of seven months to the implementation of the rule.
Jowell said the legislation works as a piece, with two key objectives. The first is to extend the freedom to drink when adults want to, while at the same time giving new powers for the police to crack down on licensed premises and individuals who make life a misery for everyone else by allowing too much drunkenness.
The law provides for miscreants, tracked by city centre CCTV cameras, to be punished by on-the-spot 80-pound fines while rowdy pubs monitored and closed down, initially for 24 hours.
Before the vote on the law, the government launched a 2.5-million-pound campaign to curb binge drinking.
Posted
on : Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:25 GMT | Politics News
By : Rob Davis
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