Bars Are Part of British Life But House Motion Threatens to Close Them Early

Alcohol abuse has become so rampant in Britain that a large section of the public are concerned and this has prompted Labour Party to propose early closure.

Plans to change pub opening hours have caused a rift in the Labour Party a day after they were proposed at the party conference.

Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, vowed to “table an emergency resolution” to stop any motion that would see pubs close earlier.

It came after Andrew Gwynne, a fellow minister who is responsible for public health, suggested that “tightening up on some of the hours of operation” at pubs and bars should be considered as part of efforts to crack down on alcohol abuse.

Mr McFadden today hailed pubs as “a great part of the British tradition” as he ruled out any plans to change hours.

“We’ve got a day left of the conference and if that’s on the agenda, I’m going to table an emergency resolution myself in order to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Mr McFadden told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I think we’ve been clear about that overnight, the pub’s a great part of the British tradition and we’ve got no plans to change the opening hours in that way.”

He later told LBC: “I don’t think there’s any plan to shut the pubs early. The pub is a great part of British life.

“I, before we started the interview, I think I told you I don’t have a drink during the conference, but that is partly so I can look forward to having a nice one when the conference is over, and I hope the pub will be open when I go in.”

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Gwynne had said: “These are discussions that we have got to have – even if it’s just about tightening up on some of the hours of operation, particularly where there are concerns that people are drinking too much”.

The crackdown on drinking is under consideration alongside measures to target obesity, including pushing the food industry to reduce the fat, sugar and salt content of everyday foods.

Insisting Labour was “not the fun police” nor “supernanny”, Mr Gwynne said the case for such measures was both moral and economic.

He said the state of Britain’s poor health was “morally reprehensible” and that “bluntly there isn’t enough money” for the NHS to cope with rising demand without such actions.

But a spokesman for his department said: “It is categorically untrue that the Government is considering changing alcohol licensing hours.”

Emma McClarkin, the BBPA (British Beer and Pub Association) chief executive, welcomed Mr McFadden’s move to deny the rumours.

She said: “It is a huge relief that the idea of restricting pub hours has been quashed, as it suggested a fundamental misunderstanding about how people drink.