Curfew Carnage?

[mushroom25]

well, who'd a thought it? everything shuts at 10pm so everyone gets turned out on to the streets, into ubers and on to buses trains and tubes. no possibility of social distancing!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8777387/Police-battle-disperse-crowds-partying-street-10pm-closing-time-new-Covid-rules.html

so instead of getting touchy feely in a late night bar, everyone now gets touchy feely on their way home, net result - the virus spreads as if there had been no curfew. did our politicos not think of this at all?

[jno]

I was reading in the paper today that Barcelona has a similar curfew but if you're in a restaurant eating at 10pm you can stay on (till about 3am, apparently). That sounds sensible; it would diffuse the curfew crowd problem. I don't know that it would work with drinkers in pubs, though.

[woofgang]

Jno it might work there, here I could see people leaving the pubs and trying to get into restaurants which would negate any kind of curfew.

[calmck]

Here in Portugal no one is allowed into bars or restaurants after 10pm but those inside can stay until they have finished eating and drinking

[jourdain2]

It was a daft idea, really. Out here in the countryside there are very few out in the pub after 10.00 p.m. and usually they are chatting and 'drinking-up'. There is a great deal of resentment about this and the govt. is losing support by the dozens.

I can well understand that city pubs which rely on food are angry too - they need 2 separate servings to make their money and there is not enough time if they have to stop short at 10. These arbitrary rules have a nasty habit of becoming permanent (as happened at the beginning of the 1900s).

Apart from that - it was obviously going to cause crowds in the streets if everyone was evicted at the same time ---- I really am despairing of this govt...... and I started with such high hopes of them. :(

[Sunk]

The Licensing Act 2003 was introduced to prevent everybody being chucked out at the same time. It was thought that staggered closing would help keep the peace.

The 10pm curfew has not really been thought through.

[teacake44]

@22.07, that's a good idea, but sadly I fear that would be stretched here in the UK, you would find people crowding in at 9.50 to enable them to fiddle more drinking time.

[jno]

the restaurants could choose when the last bookings were for - 9pm or 9.30 maybe. I don't know the details of hwo the Catalans arrange it.