I hadn’t seen anything about this… perhaps all the Brit chiffers are busy putting the laws to a test?
http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051124/pub_law_england_051124
Seemed strange. Over the past couple years I thought I had heard that drinking had become a serious concern and the authorities were going to crack down… seems like they got kind of confused. 
Time to pack my bags and head off for Jolly Old England!!
I guess it depends what news you listen to. Even Tony Blair’s father-in-law was in the news saying what an idiotic idea this was. Apparently there’s only a few pubs that changed their license to take advantage of this. It would take a pretty dedicated staff to keep an English pub scrubbed down 24/7.
djm
Plenty of information here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4467596.stm
and here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4461888.stm
This weekend will probably give a better picture than last night, since last night was of course a week-night, and traditionally there’s less ‘trouble’ on a week-night than at weekends.
Glad I’m no longer a bobby on the beat in Portsmouth city centre, that’s for sure. And glad I’m no longer living a hundred yards from a crappy theme pub!
One thing I haven’t heard about since the change is how many establishments failed to get a new licence in time and are now acting illegally. I know it was a concern only two months ago.
Sorry to be a pedant but these new rules only apply to England and Wales, not Britain as a whole.
We’ve had pretty relaxed licensing for years. Made us the nation of beaten up, overweight alcoholics we are today 
Seriously, no matter how easy the English make it for themselves they’ll always lag behind us and the Irish in the drinking stakes 
Now I’m off for a drink.
I just think that it’s a curious argument to allow more carousin’ so the streets won’t be flooded at 11 p.m. when they close. If this was a serious argument, they might rotate the hours to the various licensed establishments or something. But I don’t think it’s serious in that regard and I suppose its a victory for the brewers.
Isn’t the opposite thing happening in Ireland, where there are more restrictions regarding drinking, smoking and general fun to discourage a nation at risk from drink? We discussed various aspects of it here when the smoking ban started.
If you are serious about getting people to work the next day, 11 makes sense.
I just found it odd when I first read about it recently.
Here in Calaforny, our bars close at 2 a.m., which means law enforcement can collect DUIs quite easily at that hour, since most of our establisments are driven to, rather than walked. We had one local in our semi-rural town that used to ride his horse to the bar and leave the poor nag out on the sidewalk until 2 a.m. Added local color, both to the neighborhood and to the sidewalks.
PS: Chrisoff, I like yer style, mate.
11am is a bit early to start work after a serious drinking session. Could we make it noon?