Calling time on closing to open all hours

LONDON: Britain begins one of the country's boldest social experiments in decades today with the introduction of new licensing laws that ministers hope will cut worsening alcohol problems, but which have inspired gloomy predictions from doctors and police.

Fifty years of piecemeal licensing legislation will be swept away in England and Wales and replaced with the right to serve alcohol 24 hours a day.

Ministers hope the move will be the beginning of the end for the high levels of binge drinking that now cause public disorder and ill-health.

University professors specialising in alcohol say that such radical reform has never been attempted in any country. But they warn that lesser experiments among similar drinking cultures have been failures.

The change signals a U-turn from decades of restrictive legislation on when pubs and bars could open, and will end the routine shouts from British bar staff of "drink up" at 11pm.

Ministers argue that adults have the right to drink past 11pm, without having to dance or hear music.

They say that new police powers in the 2003 Licensing Act should shut down pubs that tolerate and promote disorder and drunkenness.

Meanwhile, 5000 covert checks will be carried out in the next four weeks to catch bars and off-licences that sell drinks to people under 18 - to stymie the level of binge drinking among teenagers.

Yet, a day before the new law comes into force, the Government handed its critics more ammunition by saying that, in the short term, alcohol-related crime would rise. Paul Goggins, a Home Office minister, said: "The figures may go up because of stronger enforcement. We want to see alcohol-related violence and disorder decreased and we are determined to get a grip on it."

None of the country's alcohol experts are predicting that the legislation will instantly cause an orgy of late-night drinking.

Many pubs are likely to serve until midnight or 1am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. But some pubs and bars will open well into the early hours, possibly as late as 5am, 6am or 7am. Sixty per cent of pubs have applied for an extension to their opening hours. According to the Government's figures, just 700 premises have asked to sell alcohol around the clock. Among them are 240 pubs.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said it had concerns about extending the hours "given the culture of excessive drinking". Doctors predict more cases at accident and emergency departments, whose caseload after 11pm is already 70 per cent alcohol-related.

Professor Martin Plant, an expert in alcohol at the University of West England, said: "There is the evidence from the ... Ireland, Iceland and Australia ... [where] violence and alcohol-related problems increased substantially."

Until recently in Europe, Britain was ranked in the middle in terms of average alcohol consumption - though Britons drank more intensely. The country's intake has been rising rapidly since the early 1990s.

According to Government statistics, eight million people are at risk of harm from drinking too much - 25 per cent of the population. One million are officially "alcohol dependent".

Alcohol is far more deep-rooted and problematic in British society than other drugs, according to Nick Heath, emeritus professor of alcohol and other drugs at Northumbria University.

"It's clear that the main problem with drinking in this country is about drinking patterns; drinking to excess, drinking to intoxification. The Government imagines that by campaigning against binge drinking it's going to change those patterns. It will take decades for these kind of changes to take place."

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24-hour party people

* 1.1 million Britons officially classed "alcohol-dependent"
* 9th UK's world rating in alcohol consumption
* 81,000 number of pubs in England and Wales
* 70 per cent of venues have applied to serve alcohol later
* 9 units the number of alcohol units in a bottle of wine
* 11 units weekly consumption of average 15-year-old
* 1bn ($2.5bn) spent on drinks adverts each year in Britain
* 150,000 spent on campaign warning drinkers to behave
* 20 per cent rise in alcohol-related deaths in five years
* 25 per cent of Britons drink heavily enough to risk self-harm
* 3300 children with alcohol-related illness in one year
* £20bn estimated cost of alcohol abuse for the nation
* 3 per cent fall in male binge-drinking between 1998 and 2003


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Pros, cons, happy times and hangovers

More drinking?
I'll drink to that ...Drinkers will be under no pressure to gulp up as closing time nears. Police can close rowdy bars and fine licensees for selling to drunkards and children.
Let's drown our sorrows ...By increasing availability, the amount of drinking will rise. It is likely to follow existing patterns of binge-drinking. Academics cite experiments in Iceland, Ireland and Australia as evidence.

More disturbances?
I'll drink to that ...Violent crime has risen over the past decade, fuelled by alcohol, and convictions for being drunk and disorderly have doubled. Inflexible laws encourage binge-drinking and force revellers on to streets at the same time.
Let's drown our sorrows ...The Institute of Alcohol Studies concluded liberalisation led to more violent disorder. A police report predicted an "increase in the number of investigations of drink-related crimes".

Cultural changes?
I'll drink to that ...Ministers are seeking a "cafe society" where families can drop in at all hours to share a bottle of wine or have a beer.
Let's drown our sorrows ...The new flexibility will produce a booze free-for-all that blights, rather than benefits, towns and cities. Other countries with relaxed licensing laws have a mature attitude to alcohol.

Public backing?
I'll drink to that ...The silent majority backs liberalisation.
Let's drown our sorrows ...A September poll found 62pc opposed the changes, with women three-to-one against. Only 18- to 24-year-olds were in favour.

- INDEPENDENT