The pubs and bars are open long enough for people to get pissed now. Longer opening hours will not, in my mind, cause more people to get drunk. The same 1% or 5% or 10% or whatever it is will carry on getting pissed. The remaining 99% or 95% or 90% or whatever will still remain sensible. There IS 24 hours drinking now. You can buy as much as you want in the supermarket and drink to your hearts content at home.

How on earth are longer opening hours going to tempt the sober minded sensible majority into getting pissed when they can do it quite easily if they want to now? Better still, those 1 or 5 or 10 etc. will, hopefully, become so pissed in the new regime that they will not even be able to leave the bar, let alone cause trouble:-)

The problem here is not licencing - it is attitude. There is 24 hour drinking in Europe. We need to ask ourselves why they do not get anything like the trouble that we do. I lived in Brussels for over 3 months and left the bars at all sorts of times. I never saw anything like the loutishness that I see in Manchester!

Food (or drink) for thought?

Cheers, hic.

DtG