Lead

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has formally ordered Westminster council to scrap a draft licensing policy that would have all but banned new pubs and bars from opening in Soho and the West End, marking the first use of new powers granted to him by the government.

The policy, revealed by the Guardian, recommended that pubs applying for new licences allow only table service rather than bar ordering, and proposed that new pubs in popular nightlife areas including Soho call last orders at 10pm to reduce noise and disturbance.

Khan said of the proposals on X: "You can't run a world-famous nightlife district with a village-hall mindset."

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "Busy pubs full of people talking to each other is not a public nuisance, it is British life, and it is thousands of jobs."

Coverage comparison

The Guardian reported the story in two articles, the first focusing on Downing Street's response to the council's draft policy and the second on the mayor's intervention. The first article highlighted the government's vow to confiscate powers from local councils over 'vertical drinking' restrictions, while the second emphasised the mayor's order for the council to scrap the policy. Both articles drew on direct quotes from officials and referenced data to support the mayor's case.

Key claims

Westminster council's draft licensing policy recommends no 'vertical drinking' — that is, customers standing while drinking — and no ordering at the bar. The policy is under consultation and asks pubs to have table service rather than allowing orders at the bar. Pubs applying for new licences may be required to have table service only, and new pubs in popular nightlife areas may have to call last orders at 10pm.

The government is devolving new licensing powers to the London mayor, including the ability to 'call in' local council decisions he opposes.

Khan has ordered Westminster council to scrap the policy, which he said would ban new pubs and bars from opening in Soho and the West End. The council's policy also labels the entirety of Soho and the West End as a 'cumulative impact zone', meaning no more pubs, bars or nightclubs should be allowed to open unless under exceptional circumstances.

Data cited by Khan shows that Home Office alcohol licensing data records only 41 licence applications were made in the West End cumulative impact area in 2023-24, with only 16 granted. The data also shows that only 3.5% of applications that went to a licensing subcommittee in Westminster were approved exactly as applied for between 2023 and 2026, and pub and wine bar applications were down 80% in 2022-24.

The draft policy says pubs should "discourage excessive drunkenness and encourage the provision of more seating in premises that serve alcohol for people to sit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service in place of open bar space that caters for high-volume vertical drinking". It goes on to recommend that sales of alcohol and food should be "by waiter or waitress service only".

The Conservative Westminster councillors decree in the draft policy that newly licensed pubs should serve last orders at 10pm, and nightclubs should shut by 11.30pm on weekdays and at midnight on weekends. There are also plans to label Mayfair and the Victoria area as special zones where nightlife is restricted due to noise and other "nuisance behaviours".

Khan is asking the council to scrap all of these zones and allow new bars and restaurants to open, in his formal response to the consultation. He is also directing it to get rid of the restrictions.

A spokesperson for the mayor previously said he was against "restrictive and anti-growth policies" and said he hoped to use new powers to be granted to him by the government to stop councils from overreaching.

Operators of pubs and bars in Soho have criticised what they see as the policy's impact on the area's nightlife.