'Fun police': how pubs became a battleground in the culture war

A culture war is brewing around an unlikely candidate: Britain's beloved pubs.

"Fun police" ministers are considering "nanny state" measures to reduce harmful drinking, The Telegraph first reported. Andrew Gwynne, the public health minister, said that the government is thinking of "tightening up the hours of operation" of bars and pubs to "boost the nation's health and tackle antisocial behaviour".

The Department of Health and Social Care described the claim that Labour would overhaul 24-hour alcohol licensing hours as "categorically untrue". Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said he would table an "emergency resolution" to ensure licensing times remained the same. But Keir Starmer also recently unveiled a plan to ban smoking in pub gardens, provoking warnings of a "death knell" for establishments. The double whammy of stories prompted Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick to post on X: "Why does Starmer hate pubs?"

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'Attack on booze'

"It's no beer Keir!" said the Daily Mail. This "attack on booze" is threatening to "decimate Britain's hospitality industry". Gwynne's words on licensing hours, although quickly refuted by the government, "triggered alarm" among industry figures.

Things are already bad enough, said The Times. About 50 pubs are closing every month in Britain. London, once "a world-class nightlife destination", now has fewer venues open after 2am than any other major British city.

Drinkers also "face being clobbered" in a "sin tax raid" as part of the upcoming Budget, said The Sun. There's speculation around a duty price hike, which would be a "crushing blow for beleaguered boozers".

Already, 35% of hospitality businesses aren't making a profit. Any alcohol duty increases to help fill the £22 billion black hole in the public finances would "cause carnage, especially in the lucrative Christmas season".

There are even "efforts" to "do away with the pint": a "mainstay of British culture", said The European Conservative. A recent trial in 13 pubs in England found that replacing a pint with a two-thirds measure as the largest draught available led to a 10% decrease in beer sold. Health researchers said the trial, published in PLOS Medicine, proved that a smaller glass could boost the nation's health.

In other words, "woke scientists want to shrink your PINT", said the Daily Mail. And pub takings, too. During the trial period, the venues' mean daily revenue fell by 5%. Unsurprisingly, none of them kept the smaller measure after the trial.

'Contributor to early death'

Time for an inconvenient truth: Britain's boozing may have slowed somewhat, but it's still a problem, said the Mail.

In 2022, alcohol-related deaths in Britain soared to "an all-time high". Alcohol increases the risk of more than 200 diseases and injuries, said the pint study leader Professor Theresa Marteau, director of the behaviour and health research unit at the University of Cambridge. "In England, it is the fifth largest contributor to early death, disease and disability, and the leading risk factor for those aged 15 to 49."

That's a burden we can ill afford. Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, told ministers that if trends continue then 60% of the NHS budget will be spent on preventable diseases, up from 40% at the moment.

The British pint may well be a "cultural foundation", said The Guardian. "But at 568ml, it is among the largest common beer servings in the world." Germans have 500ml, Americans 473ml and Australians make do with 425ml. If we can overcome our "inertia", a small change could have a big impact.