Britain06 August, 20263 min read
Westminster City Council Proposes Limiting Vertical Drinking in Soho and West End Pubs
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Westminster Council proposes limiting standing drinking at pubs in Soho and West End. The plan triggers opposition from pub landlords and politicians, including Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham.
Soho pub licensing fight
Westminster City Council’s draft licensing policy, covering pubs and restaurants in central London’s West End nightlife hub of Soho, has sparked political backlash after it set out an intention to cut down on what it describes as “vertical drinking,” meaning enjoying an alcoholic drink while standing up. The proposal is currently out to public consultation, with the public having until Sunday to respond, and it is laid out in the council’s draft statement of licensing policy.
“This is about safety, not stopping anyone standing at a bar with a pint in their hand.”
Westminster Council leader Paul Swaddle said the council’s aim is to reduce noise and disorderly behavior by encouraging bars and restaurants to serve more people at their tables, not bar anyone from having a drink while standing, and he insisted, “This is about safety, not stopping anyone standing at a bar with a pint in their hand.” Lesley Lewis, who has run the French House pub in Soho for 37 years, argued that discouraging standing would only push customers elsewhere, saying, “We rely on those people standing up with the rents and the rates (taxes) put upon us.”
Downing Street and Khan
The dispute has drawn responses from the prime minister’s office and from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, with a Downing Street spokesperson telling PA Media that “Busy pubs, full of people talking, are not a public nuisance; they are part of British life and represent thousands of jobs.” In the same coverage, Westminster’s leader Paul Swaddle pushed back on claims that the council was trying to ban standing, saying, “There is no plan, and never has been, to ban drinking while standing up in a Westminster pub.”
Sadiq Khan criticized the policy as restrictive and anti-growth, writing on X, “You can’t run a world-famous nightlife district with a village-hall mindset.” CNN also reported that local media coverage prompted angry replies to a council post on X asking visitors to “ignore nonsense headlines,” including one user who said, “I want to be allowed to stand sometimes.”
Consultation stakes for venues
The council’s draft licensing policy frames the approach as discouraging “excessive drunkenness” by encouraging more seating and table service, with the plan proposing “for people to sit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service in place of open bar space that caters for high volume vertical drinking.” Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, urged members to respond to the consultation by arguing that “Standing in pubs has always been part of Britain’s pub culture,” and he said it is “how people meet friends, watch live sport, wait to be served and enjoy the unique atmosphere that pubs have provided for generations.”
The Guardian reported that the mayor’s office described the move as “restrictive and anti-growth,” saying that at a time when nightlife and hospitality need support, policies like these would “leave our venues facing extinction.” ABC7 Bay Area | Other added that Westminster has more pubs, bars and restaurants licensed to sell alcohol than any other local authority in the U.K., and it quoted Khan saying, “London’s hospitality and nightlife support jobs, culture and growth.”