“Westminster City Council is NOT planning to stop you from standing up in the pub,” came the outraged response on X from the Westminster councillor Timothy Barnes in August, when the row over the proposed limit on “vertical drinking” in Soho first broke. The reporting of the suggested new licensing policy was, he said, “politically motivated” and “deliberately and knowingly misleading”.
Imagine how outraged Barnes must be now that the feared restrictions have been approved by none other than Westminster City Council (though it must still consult with London’s City Hall over the plans). They may not amount to a total ban on standing to drink a pint, but the draft policy made clear such perverted behaviour is to be discouraged: new licence applications where there’s a risk customers might indulge in it are almost certain to be refused. Then again, so are “sedentary drinking” establishments: new food and drink outlets will normally be refused on principle, along with – in language reminiscent of the film Footloose – venues “offering music, dancing and similar entertainment”. Londoners dancing? In Soho? Perish the thought. Let’s have some more vape shops instead.
This comes despite an overwhelming backlash: 81 per cent of respondents to the council’s consultation opposed the plans. The council said these objections can safely be ignored because these respondents didn’t understand what they were objecting to – which is a novel approach to politics that I can’t wait to see applied elsewhere (why honour election results if the voters were clearly wrong?).
Barnes claims the issue is one of “public safety” and lack of policing resources. I wonder if he has wandered down to Soho at night lately – where the scourge of vertical drinking is visibly much less of a public-order issue than people consuming off-licence alcohol in the street. No wonder, when the pubs that are allowed to operate are impossibly crowded, and Westminster’s “core hours” policy demands they shut at midnight, causing revellers in one of the world’s most famous night-life districts all to be kicked out at the same time. No doubt the council has a plan for that too. Banning loitering, perhaps? Spikes all over Soho Square? Hiring officials with loudspeakers to bark at pedestrians to keep moving?
Readers outside London might be wondering why they should care. To which I have two answers. First is Sadiq Khan, who has accused Westminster council of “breathtaking arrogance” for ignoring public sentiment and vowed to fight the plans with new reviewing powers the government is soon to grant to the London mayor. Which I think is worth flagging, given the abuse Khan frequently receives from the online right, who peddle the sinister conspiracy theory that he wants to impose sharia law on the capital. Here is a teetotal Muslim mayor leading the crusade for Londoners to be allowed to drink freely. It’s multiculturalism and pure British brio at its best, and we should celebrate it.
Second, remember that 2021 Ipsos survey about how long Covid restrictions should last? Yes, pandemic anxiety was raging back then, but it’s still striking that 26 per cent of Brits thought nightclubs should stay closed for good regardless of Covid risk, while 19 per cent backed a permanent curfew. There’s a puritanical streak lurking beneath our “freedom-loving” national identity, a soul-crushing voice whining “I don’t want to so you mustn’t”. And that voice isn’t limited to London.
All over the country, decisions are being made – on pubs, music venues, football pitches, children’s playgrounds – by a bitter minority who hate the idea of people having fun they’re not having. This is not a recipe for a functioning society; it’s a recipe for resentment and misery. We can only hope the vertical drinking row, in all its absurdity, will lead to a rethink. For members of the fun police, horrified by the notion of drinking standing up, I have a radical suggestion: sit down.
[Further reading: Tax: the new front in the Reform-Tory war]
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This article appears in the 16 Sep 2026 issue of the New Statesman, Will AI kill us all?
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