Nowhere for the grown-ups.

First of all Labour freed up the licensing trade, and said pubs etc. could be open for 24 hours a day if they wanted.

That was nice, everybody said, no need to apply for late licenses and so on, it'll make it easier for clubs and pubs and late-night venues. People will be able to go for a drink, and won't try to rush drinking several pints as quickly as possible before the closing time bell rings. It'll make people more responsible, more careful.

So, people took advantage of being able to drink for 24 hours a day, they could choose when to go and have a drink because there was no need for the pub to close at 11:00 pm if the landlord didn't want to.

Somewhere along the line came the dire warnings - drink is evil, drinking too much will kill you. They even managed to reduce the amount for what was 'too much' - which kept the statistics at the right level.

Of course the smoking ban arrived too, even though they'd promised it wouldn't happen. People could still go to a pub/bar/club any time they wanted to but couldn't smoke indoors, they had to go outside. Not many people really want to stand outside in the rain, not even the most hardened smoker and certainly not those who have never before smoked a cigarette outside, on the street.

So, after having a meal at home, going out for a quick drink and a natter with other 'locals' stopped being a nice thing to do - and local pubs started paying the penalty, and closed. Places that had been local 'watering holes' for hundreds of years - closed, possibly for ever.

But the 24 hour licensing remained - an illusion of freedom.

Remember Mr Brown's article, written when he was a mere 11 years of age?

It does make Mrs Rigby wonder if the initial illusion of freedom was nothing more than a sleight of hand concealing the long term plan to destroy the traditional pub trade, and only because a certain abstemious Presbyterian preferred to see all drinking stopped, all easy socialising stopped and along with it a 'British' tradition - because the pub is/was quintessentially British.

Have you noticed that, apart from the trendy establishments catering solely for the youth market, many of the remaining pubs tend to be 'family friendly', with kiddie menus offering burgers and bangers and, of course, a 'vegetarian option' along with healthy fruit drinks?

The pub now seems to be the place to take a family for a meal, it is no longer a retreat for adults - who now have nowhere to go for a couple of hours in the evening, after all the cafés and coffee shops have closed.

Have you tried visiting your still open 'local' recently - for a quiet drink with some friends? What's the betting that if you do you'll find a large room set out as a restaurant, not a comfy chair in sight, and nowhere for the casual drinker to sit and chat, and outside meal times it will be empty.

Quite a social revolution isn't it, and it only took a few years.

....

All hands to the (beer) pump?

You couldn't make it up!

New Minister for Pubs John Healey has promised to table a package of measures to help pubs within weeks.

and

Last week, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said the rate of pub closures had slowed from 52 a week in the first half of 2009 to 39 a week.

Healey, also housing and planning minister, is to head a task force of five ministers who will draw up a plan to help pubs.

He is said to be considering tax breaks for pubs and giving tenants the right to buy pubs from landlords if they are threatened with closure.

It is understood that the idea of appointing such a minister has been bubbling away over the past year as the government sought to provide some cross-departmental cohesion on policies affecting pubs.

So they're going to magic money out of thin air for not only 'tax relief'  but also the wages and severance pay for yet another minister. Perhaps they'll use the money they're taking from pensioners because their computers have made a bit of a mistake? All they need to do is relax the rules of the smoking ban to be exactly what they promised in their non-legally binding manifesto which was a "pledge to introduce a ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in England, except pubs which do not serve food, and private members' clubs".

Odd they should be 'doing something' now, in the run up to a general election.

 .

20,000 more Police for Mr Brown's escort service.

Mrs Rigby notices that Roger Baker, Chief Constable of Essex, says that if they cut down on waste, such as "... 'barmy projects', lavish buffets and designer sunglasses ..." there could be up to 20,000 more Police on the beat within five years. Being a bit of a cynic Mrs R notes that he will be retiring this summer, and wonders why he's waited until now to suggest saving some money. The article is here

Mrs Rigby thinks it's nice to see the principal of joined-up ideas working so effectively, she is pleased to see that all these extra personnel will be ready for Mr Brown's newly announced "getting home escort service."

You see, Mrs Rigby noted here that Mr Brown wants "the public" to be able to call on the Police to walk them home from the cashpoint, or from the pub after a night out. He doesn't say what people who live outside big cities and big towns are supposed to do to get home, when the last bus has been cancelled, but that's by the by.

Mrs Rigby would actually like to see Police officers, somewhere, anywhere. The last one(s) she saw whizzed past in a noisy fast car with a flashing blue light on top. Mrs R reckons that if there were more Police around, at all hours of the day or night, there wouldn't be the need for silly ideas such as Mr Brown's escort service. But, maybe, he wasn't thinking of us ordinary folk, maybe he's really trying to save Barbara Follett some money.

Mrs Rigby doesn't buy into the idea that we public don't need to see the Police to know they're working, because she's one of these "public", and isn't the least reassured by locked stations with nobody to open the door if you need to knock on it for help - especially at night.

Mrs R would like to see partly mothballed Police Stations in small towns (i.e. not cities) open 24 hours a day, instead of people having to rely on a yellow telephone outside the door. She'd like staff answering emergency calls to have some idea of the area they cover, instead of them being so isolated in the middle of a huge "command area" that they simply haven't got a clue.

Mrs Rigby thinks people should be able to see, and have easy access to what they pay for, and that's Police - proper Police - who know their local area, and who local people can relate to if they've got a problem.