Unelected radicals are trying to call the shots in Keir’s government
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Andrew Gwynne, a public health minister, has revealed that the government is considering “tightening up the hours of operation” of pubs – i.e. forcing them to close early. Gwynne claimed this would improve people’s health and tackle anti-social behaviour.
What nonsense. Even if this policy was genuinely concerned with improving public health, it would fail dismally. People being cleared out of pubs and bars at the new closing time of, let’s say, 10pm would simply find somewhere else to drink, potentially ushering in a new era of the speakeasy. At the same time, the Treasury would notice a fall in revenue until, finally, scores more pubs went out of business. This in itself would have various knock-on effects, creating wider unemployment.
Whether or not Gwynne’s economically illiterate plan comes to pass, though, it’s his mindset that is so revealing.
It is the mindset of control.
This is the Labour mindset – steeped in the idea that Big Government knows best. It is completely detached from reality and it despises the notions of freedom and choice.
People like Gwynne object to the idea that someone might want to sit in a pub late at night having a drink and a chat with their family or friends. They want to remove that simple pleasure and they would use questionable health grounds to do it. We’ve already heard about Labour’s plans to ban smoking from outside areas like pub gardens. Now alcohol is in their sights.
In a way, this doesn’t surprise me. For an idea of how much Britain could change unless this socialist government is voted out at the earliest opportunity, look no further than Wales and London. Labour has been in power in both of these devolved areas for several years. They can be seen as the prototypes of life in future.
Those pernicious three prongs of equality, diversity and inclusion have taken root, elbowing the interests of those who do not obsess about identity politics out of the way.
Open war has been declared on motorists, who are penalised for driving their cars at over 20mph or – in London – within a “Ulez” zone. CCTV cameras are everywhere, spying on citizens and fining them via a system which is nothing more than legitimised theft.
All this has created a culture of fear among law-abiding people. The sense of liberty that we used to take for granted is slipping away, no doubt hastened by the ghastly lockdown culture that Labour embraced so vigorously.
Isn’t it revealing that Gwynne and his friends have nothing to say about the steep rise in those committing illegal activities such as taking Class A drugs or carrying knives? Instead, they only seem interested in chipping away at social habits that have been legal for centuries.
I would politely suggest that Gwynne, 50, has a limited experience of life outside the confines of the political establishment where he has worked since the turn of the century.
His outlook is that of the boring middle manager who doesn’t drink in pubs anyway. To him and his Labour colleagues I say: good luck.
Voters who live in Red Wall seats – indeed, most voters everywhere – detest being told what to do. They would never stand for pubs closing early. They will rebel.
Those of them who bothered to vote Labour in July will desert the party at the next election. It should not escape their attention that the Reform Party isn’t interested in banning things. I believe that life is for living and enjoying when time allows – and that pubs can keep whatever reasonable hours they wish.