‘Vertical drinking’ row rumbles on in Westminster
Sadiq Khan has hit out at the “breathtaking arrogance” of Westminster council, accusing the authority of ignoring public and industry opposition to its reported plans to crack down on so-called vertical drinking in the borough.
The mayor of London has slammed the council for pushing ahead with its new licensing policy, which also imposes restrictions on new bars and pubs in the area, which covers nightlife hotspot Soho.
“The arrogance of Westminster council is breathtaking,” Khan said. “By ignoring all those who oppose their plans and viewing hospitality in the heart of our capital city as a problem, they are letting down businesses, residents and our economy. They would rather see nightlife die than thrive.”
The Conservative-controlled Westminster council has confirmed that it will press ahead with its curbs on ‘vertical drinking,’ which attracted widespread outrage earlier this summer.
Its consultation document has proposed measures to either force new venues to provide a “minimum number of seats at all times” or only offer table service.
It said that places with fewer people standing up while drinking tended to be “less crowded” and were “generally associated with lower noise levels and more orderly dispersal”.
These measures would help to “reduce” or “remove opportunities” for what they refer to as “vertical drinking,” the document said.
Tory council doubles down
Westminster’s Tory councillors have claimed that opposition to the new rules were based on misunderstandings of the terminology in its licensing document.
Tim Barnes, Westminster city council’s deputy leader, said: “Beyond disagreements over policy jargon there are serious issues acting as a drag on our hospitality industry.
“A lack of investment in policing has left the Met objecting to many licensing applications over public safety concerns.”
Cllr Barnes added that the council has no plans to ban vertical drinking and that “suggesting otherwise is a wilful misreading of the policy proposals with clauses taken out of context.” He added: “we need the mayor’s team to fund the services which make London a 24-hour city.”
The final licensing document set out by the council, as reported by The Guardian, keeps in place the council’s proposed curbs on vertical drinking – although the local authority it would better explain the term.
The document reads: “When considering new licence applications, discourage excessive drunkenness and encourage the provision of more seating in premises that serve alcohol 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.”