英国政府日前承诺将从试图限制酒吧站立饮酒的地方议会手中收回权力。[1]威斯敏斯特议会提出了新的酒吧许可政策草案，建议禁止站立饮酒和在吧台点餐，仅允许桌边服务，并建议在苏豪等热门夜生活区的新酒吧晚10时停止营业。[1]威斯敏斯特议会还计划在包括苏豪和伦敦西区大部分地区的"累积影响区"禁止新酒吧和酒吧开业。[1]
对此，政府表示坚决反对。唐宁街发言人称："酒吧里人满为患、互相交谈不是公共滋扰，这是英国生活，也是数千个工作机会。"[1]伦敦市长萨迪克·汗也在社交媒体上表示："你不能用乡镇议会的思维来运营世界著名的夜生活区。"[1]为贯彻这一立场，英国政府计划授予伦敦市长新权力，允许他"召回"他不同意的地方议会决定。[1]
The UK government has vowed to strip local councils of power over pub licensing policies, directly challenging Westminster Council's proposed regulations that would ban standing while drinking and prohibit bar-top orders in new establishments [1]. Westminster Council's draft policy would restrict service to table-side only and recommend closing new pubs in popular nightlife areas like Soho by 10 p.m. [1]. The council also plans to prohibit new bars and pubs from opening altogether in what it designates "cumulative impact zones," encompassing Soho and much of London's West End [1].
A Downing Street spokesperson rejected the restrictions, stating: "Pubs full of people, chatting with each other, is not a public nuisance—it is British life, and it is thousands of jobs" [1]. London Mayor Sadiq Khan similarly criticized the approach on social media, declaring: "You cannot run a world-famous nightlife area with a parish council mentality" [1]. In response, the government intends to grant the mayor new powers to overturn local council decisions he opposes [1].