Police chiefs have expressed anger over the government's decision to relax drinking laws if England progresses in the World Cup. They had urged ministers not to allow a "blanket exemption" for bars and pubs to stay open later, but their pleas were ignored. Now, they fear there will be more trouble in the UK than at the tournament itself.
Police Concerns Over Disorder
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, who leads the National Police Chiefs Council for football, insisted: "We're not trying to be killjoys." He accused ministers of "passing the buck" to police forces to deal with potential disorder. Under the proposal, if England advance from their group to the knockout stages, all pubs would be permitted to remain open later during match times.
Roberts explained: "We recognise in any tournament, there's an increase in various demands associated with it. We rely on the control measures to be the application of normal licensing laws. If England progress as we hope they do and the licensing is basically a blanket exemption, common sense tells us this will give us more problems."
Home Office Response
When asked about the Home Office's response to these concerns, Roberts said they replied: "Yeah, going ahead with it." He added: "We'll cope. We always cope. What it'll mean is that the forces will have to look at their plans. But potentially have to, we're gonna have to scale officers on later anyway, but this would extend it, so it means that officers will work potentially late shifts into the early hours."
This would have "knock-on effects taking officers away from local communities." Roberts stated: "We would have liked to do it in a more controlled manner, to allow the benefits for the licensed trade, not just pass the buck on to policing to make it work."
Impact on Communities
Roberts highlighted specific concerns: "Our concern is that premises may be in residential areas. May get saturation in one place and a challenge for us to manage it. We would have preferred normal procedures. Those places well run in sensible areas will benefit from it."
He warned: "Those premises that are well run, in sensible areas, benefit from it, but we're not going to be swamped by this, so it will be basically more alcohol, disorder, and there's a link to domestic abuse as well."
The World Cup begins next month in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. England are based in Kansas City and will play their group matches in Dallas, Boston, and New York.
