Sam Bidwell is Director of the Next Generation Centre at the Adam Smith Institute.
George Orwell was a mediocre novelist, and a criminally underrated essayist. This is not a popular opinion, but it is the correct one. Of all his essays, the most perfect is surely The Moon Under Water. Published in 1946, it sees Orwell offer a utopian vision of the ideal pub, complete with a quiet beer garden, pints of stout served in china mugs, and a crowd of reliable regulars.
Alas, like a reflection of the moon on the surface of a lake, Orwell’s vision of perfection is ultimately illusory, never to be matched by London’s real-world watering holes.
Yet venture into London on a Saturday night, and you’ll struggle to find a pub to serve you at all. Forget about The Moon Under Water – you’re lucky if you can get a warm pint of bitter at the Dog and Duck. The city’s nightlife has been decimated over the past few years, with more than 3,000 bars, clubs, and pubs closing their doors for good since the pandemic.
Rising energy costs and sky-high rents, alongside business rates, alcohol duty, and VAT, are pushing many more hospitality businesses to the brink, while strict planning and licensing laws prevent many venues from remaining open late.
Of course, it doesn’t need to be this way. In our recent report, On The Rocks, the Adam Smith Institute echoed industry calls to slash Beer Duty, restore the 12.5 per cent rate of VAT that helped the hospitality sector to survive the pandemic, and scrap local alcohol levies.
On planning and licensing, ministers should intervene to curb the worst excesses of puritanism from local councils, handing out more late-night licenses and removing restrictions on al fresco dining. Late night public transport provision should be expanded, and taxi drivers should retain their VAT exemption.
At a time when the Conservative Party is profoundly unpopular with younger voters, an ambitious campaign of nightlife liberalisation could help to shake its stuffy image whilst demonstrating how tax cuts and deregulation can improve the lives of ordinary working-age people.
In recent years, the Party has earned (and not unfairly) a reputation for geriatric paternalism. Plans to ban disposable vapes, outlaw smoking, and regulate gambling follow in the footsteps of heavy-handed pandemic lockdowns, which sacrificed the freedoms of the young to extend the lives of the old.
Calorie counts on menus, regulating loot boxes, banning menthol cigarettes… the list goes on. The mirth and merriment of Merrie England is out, regulated into extinction by dour public health lobbyists.
We shouldn’t underestimate the impact that this widespread cultural perception has on the Conservatives’ fortunes with younger votes.
Of course, the main drivers of Tory underperformance with younger voters are economic: high house prices, limited job opportunities, and a shrinking graduate wage premium. Yet even right-leaning young people are unlikely to be inspired by a party that seems to embody the nostalgia and risk-aversion of the country’s ageing baby boomers.
For working-age people, being able to meet friends for a meal, enjoy a pint after work, or go clubbing on a Friday night is part of what makes life worthwhile in a fast-moving city like London. Helping pubs and clubs to stay open later by bringing down their costs and getting rid of regulatory blockers would serve as a much-needed olive branch to the next generation after years spent restricting opportunities to cut loose.
There are good practical reasons to pursue this agenda too. Unfortunately, the psychological scarring of the 2008 financial crash looms large in the British psyche; as a culture, we have become nervous of anything that sounds like it might increase risk, particularly when it comes to the economy.
If the Party wants to woo young voters in future with an agenda that promises growth and dynamism, then demonstrating how cutting tax and slashing red tape can actually improve people’s lives is a must. Lifting restrictions and burdensome costs on the hospitality sector would do exactly that; if you want people to notice the positive impacts of a tax cut, make their drinks cheaper.
If Britain is to get its mojo back, recapturing some measure of the dynamism and prosperity that we once enjoyed, young people must be at the heart of a revitalised Conservative Party. Saving London’s nightlife through an ambitious programme of liberalisation is one way to begin rebuilding support amongst the next generation.
If instead, like the Romans, we are destined for inexorable stagnation and decline, let’s at least take a page out of their book and go out in a glorious blaze of decadence. Either way, Britain deserves cheaper pints.
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Author: Sam Bidwell
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