Beer takeaway plan at late-night venues a 'recipe for violence', ministers warned

Plans to allow late-night pubs and bars to sell takeaway alcohol will spark street violence, disorder and drunkenness, ministers have been warned.

The Government faced a backlash from senior politicians and policing chiefs on Monday night over the plans in the Business and Planning bill to relax licensing rules in an attempt to boost the hospitality sector.

The proposals would see rules relaxed for a year, freeing pubs and bars which are currently barred from doing so to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises even if their licence extends into the early hours.

Former home secretary Lord Blunkett warned he could not see for the “life of me” how the measure would do “anything other than fuel the already worrying concerns about activity late at night, particularly in the major cities".

Former police chief Lord Paddick said the “unintended consequence” of the relaxation would be to allow those who had already drunk enough to buy even more alcohol to drink in the street “with the potential for disorder and disruption to local residents”.

People walking down the street with a glass of alcohol was "a recipe for disorder and potential violence", he warned.

The former Met Police deputy commissioner said: "If revellers in such locations are allowed to buy alcohol to take away when these late-night premises are about to close, there is a real danger that the disorder we have seen recently caused by illegal street and block parties in which many police officers have been injured could potentially increase.

"If revellers are allowed to take alcohol with them when they leave when the party closes inside these late-licensed premises, they are likely to continue the party outside on the street."

The move follows this weekend’s reopening of pubs for the first time since lockdown, leading to streets packed with pub-goers drinking well into the early hours on “Super Saturday".

One senior officer said the scenes risked sparking a potential second wave of Coronavirus as it was “crystal clear” that drunk people could not socially distance.

Some cities have also been hit by illegal raves and block parties since the easing of lockdown.

These have included illegal street parties in north, west and south London where officers have been attacked with bottles, assaulted and threatened as they have attempted to break them up.

Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Commissioner revealed last month that some 140 of the force’s officers had been injured in violence over the previous three weeks.

Ken Marsh, chair of the Met Police Federation, said the Government’s legislation appeared “ill thought out”, warning that relaxing rules on off-sales could fuel violence. “I don’t think it is sensible to allow premises to sell alcohol round-the-clock. It’s not good in policing terms.”

Conservative peers urged the Government to restrict off-sales from licensed premises to ensure alcohol was not available in open containers and that sales were limited to normal licensing hours.

Lord Randall of Uxbridge said: "I worry that this will encourage drinking in the street into the early hours. I fear that that would increase anti-social behaviour in town and city centres in the late evening and early morning.

"The images from the weekend where in some places social distancing reduced as the alcohol intake increased gives me real concern. Sadly drunken and anti-social behaviour is not unusual in some city centres."

Former Tory leader in the Lords Baroness Stowell of Beeston shared concerns about "the threat of anti-social behaviour, especially as a result of off-sales in open containers".

Communities and home office minister Lord Greenhalgh, who opened the second reading of the plans in the Lords, said the Government recognised the need to “strike a balance between supporting businesses and ensuring safety and amenity for our communities."

A local review could be triggered leading to off-sales permission being suspended or withdrawn if there were problems.

He defended the changes as necessary “to alleviate some of the current challenges that businesses face and help the economy bounce back as we emerge from this pandemic."

The legislation also seeks to reduce the planning appeal process from almost a year to around six months, extend the hours construction sites can operate to stagger working times, and allow bus and lorry drivers to extend their driving licences for a year without the requirement for a medical review to free up time for GPs to deal with Covid-19.