24 Hour Party People: UK decides to keep all-night drinking law

On Monday, we covered the growing movement in the US questioning the logic of why someone who is legally able to ruin their lives in so many ways – ie get married, fight in wars, shoot off firearms, vote, star in a porno and obtain a mortgage – is not allowed the freedom to legally get drunk and bemoan the terrible choices they have made in these areas. We support the lowering of the drinking age in the US even if it means that our border towns in Canada will no longer be overflowing with American college students tearing a path of destruction through our hotels and getting to know the lap dance providers at strip clubs on a first-name basis.

The drinking situation in Britain is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Eighteen-year-olds there can belly up to the bar, order a whiskey straight up with no ice, and put up with the laughter and derision of the hardened drinkers around them as they choke it back – and it’s all perfectly legal. Beer at the supermarkets is cheaper than bottled water there and what’s more a law granting 920 supermarkets, 470 pubs, bars and nightclubs “24-hour licenses” will stay in effect following the completion of a study that says crime has lessened since the bill was enacted. Basically, the place is a paradise for youngsters looking to mature into heavy drinkers in as little time as possible.

Previously, last call had been at the ridiculously early hour of 11pm, which is usually about the time we wake up and head off to the bar. Pub crawlers forced out of the bar at 11pm would then fill the streets, and in a state of frustration brought on by the desire for more drink, they would punch one another in the face. (Editor’s Note: Not everybody behaved in this way – some went home to sip a cup of camomile, while others overturned police cars.)

It had been hoped that the 24-hour pubs would prevent drinkers from spilling out onto the streets at the same time. While the government study shows that crime has lessened with the advent of 24-hour pubs, critics say that it has instead giving drinkers a goal to attain – drinking all night long before pouring out onto the streets en masse in a state of oblivion between 3 and 6am.

It could be argued that left to his own devices in one of those Hobbesian states of nature, man shouldn’t need to consume alcoholic beverages beyond 4am. Most people, barring a spat with a loved one, getting slugged in the face, or being the victim of food poisoning, will generally go home of their own accord around two or three anyway. The key here is to get a quality drunk under your belt before that late hour so you can go home, drink and dial a loved one and upload embarrassing photos of yourself on Facebook. From that perspective, it would seem that New York and Chicago have it about right with their 4am last call.

But what about shift workers and insomniacs? Alas, when it comes to matters of booze procurement, the more freedom the better. We commend Britain for deciding to keep this enlightened policy in place and not being as tight-assed about closing times as our native Toronto, which deigns to extend bar hours only during the Toronto International Film Festival (presumably celebs can be counted on to be more sensible when blasted than the rest of us).