Downing Street has vowed to confiscate powers from local councils that attempt to restrict customers from standing up while drinking in pubs or ordering at the bar.
This pledge follows the Guardian's report that Westminster Council in central London recommended against "vertical drinking" or ordering at the bar in its new draft licensing policy. The draft document, currently out for consultation, suggests that pubs applying for new licences should offer only table service.
The policy also recommends that new pubs in popular nightlife areas, including Soho, should call last orders at 10pm to reduce noise. A Downing Street spokesperson stated that "Busy pubs full of people talking to each other is not a public nuisance, it is British life, and it is thousands of jobs."
The government is expected to grant new powers to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, allowing him to "call in" council decisions he disagrees with. Khan criticised the proposals on X, saying, "You can’t run a world-famous nightlife district with a village-hall mindset."
Paul Swaddle, the Conservative leader of Westminster council, denied that the plans amounted to a ban on "vertical drinking." He told the Press Association there was "no plan, and never has been, to ban drinking while standing up in a Westminster pub."