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‘It is British life’: No 10 vows to stop councils trying to limit standing in pubs
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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I don’t even understand the intention
Historically, "bars" which had almost no seating or tables, and nowhere to even put your drink down for a second, meant that people kept their drink in hand all the time, which meant they'd finish a pint in 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes - so after 2 hours, 8 pints in, the bar had made a tidy profit, and the fully shitfaced customer would stagger down to the kebab shop, start a fight and then throw up on their own shoes.
By comparison, a pub, with chairs and tables, people would drink half as much in the same time period, and perhaps be less likely to engage in the kebab shop fight/vomit situation.
I think that's what they're getting at - which I can sort of see, but making it all "table service only" sounds silly though. Just give them some little shelves round the walls and columns to put their drinks down on.
It's a good explanation and would be logical if the council were acting in good faith, however the primary driver here is to reduce the number of people who are able to patronise these pubs and thus put them out of business.
A table and 4 chairs takes about the same space as a dozen people standing, and most of these pubs are on comparatively thin margins. Reduce the turnover by that much and they're out of business. Which is what this residents group wants.
They're pushing a lot of other restrictions not just the no standing, closing pubs at 10pm on weekends is clearly intended to make them less attractive to potential patrons for example
I think that's the way they're trying to frame it. I'm not sure it's particularly true. Many of the bars in Soho and in the UK in general are just tiny and need standing service or they wouldn't be able to operate.
I see! Thanks for the explanation. I agree it seems like providing some seating and darts is a happy middleground, I want a safe place to lounge when I drink and don’t want to bother the sober people.