To think that there is no reason for the pubs to stay open longer

My thoughts exactly ?

I was trying to remember when I was last in a proper pub and the answer is I cannot remember . It would not bother me if they all closed.

And on the Friday and Saturday. As the Cup Final is on the Saturday I think there will more celebrating that than the wedding

I agree, God help the police, ambulance service and the NHS. Every A&E department will be heaving- they must be looking forward to that. The only plus is that they have been warned so it will come as no surprise.

Do they think we need extra pub hours to celebrate their day ?

I thought most pubs could stay open all day if they wanted to can’t they?

I don't get this either. Pubs can open all day if they want to.

I think I heard that they can stay open until 1am on the night beforehand and on the wedding day. My first thought was - Why.

Do they imagine cheerful groups of loyal subjects amiably toasting the newly weds into the small hours? Don't they know what every high street is like at weekend closing times? Do we have the resources to police and hospitalise the extra drunks?? What a ridiculous way to suggest the public mark the occasion.

When our local pubs have had longer opening hours it has made little difference.
They tend to be family friendly
with family entertainment

The supermarkets however have had a field day selling cheap alcohol , barbecues, charcoal burgers etc.

A lot of people have realised that it easier on their pockets to drink at home or with family and/or friends.

I can of course only speak for my area.
Night clubs are where the younger people will be and these are always late/early hours closing.

Any extra work load on the emergency services is a concern.

But I don’t understand this at all, years ago they did away with closing time and pubs had 24 hour opening I thought there was no closing time unless they wanted to when did it change back to 11 pm closing time then ??

Think about we poor Scots who cannot even buy drink until after 10 am from anywhere .On top of that minimum pricing is coming in which will add a few pounds to Aldi and Lidl whisky and gin which we buy. We will be stocking up when we drive south.

All venues that supply alcohol with be held to very strict operating times.
There are ways to request temporary hours (TENS applications) but these are down to the discretion of the council and they can be rejected

Sorry Flora you certainly are not speaking for all of us Scots.

I don't see the need for them to stay open longer. However, I love pubs. I think they are a British institution and it's a shame so many are closing.

I really can't see a prohibition on booze sales before 10am as a massive deprivation! Is there a dirty rush at 10.01am?

I thought there was no longer any such thing as "licensing hours"? It seems like a free for all to me (what little I know about it!).
How on earth, as OPs have said can extending drinking hours be of any good to anybody?

Honestly, what is it about alcohol and celebrations in the UK. A RW and a a big football match shouldn't equal excessive drinking, which all to often sadly goes hand in hand with men hitting each other, or going home and hitting their families, especially the woman with whom they share their lives.

The police, NHS, welfare services in general - all cut to the bone yet all with be doing the best they can to deal with the fall out.

Can't understand the obsession with potential increase in booze availability. I'm glad minimum unit pricing is coming in here in Scotland. The unit price isn't high enough though! Alcohol is a poison and leads to a whole host of health and social problems.
Will the bride and groom be providing any form of refreshment for the rentacrowd they're inviting to stand around and watch them arrive and leave?

Don’t know about Scotland, but in England the licensing hours changed some years ago.Pubs can stay open into the small hours if they want to.I think the ones in towns and cities go down that route and the country pubs tend to close at 11pm still.They do where I live anyway.
Most pubs really are restaurants ( in villages) anyway.

Please don't think of me living in Scotland, where I cannot buy a drink before 10am. I shall not be affected one jot about that, nor am I concerned that there will be a minimum price.

If I considered that I needed to stock up when south of the border, I'd be thinking I had a serious alcohol problem and would be making an appointment with the doctor.

No - pubs cannot stay open until whatever time they want. It’s up to the local authority who grants the licence. The changes brought in in 2005 allowed las to grant longer hours but no pub has the right to longer hours! The government is now allowing the pubs to be open up to 1am on the Friday and Saturday of that weekend. It’s ridiculous - Amber Rudd says it’s to allow us to celebrate the wedding - because of course we couldn’t if the pubs had to close at 11pm. Thank goodness I shall be out of the country. I find it quite patronising this attitude of letting the masses drink themselves senseless to celebrate a royal wedding.

To counter the potential social and health problems arising from the 24-hour sale of alcohol, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act (PRSRA) 2011 provided and expanded the power of licensing authorities to impose Early Morning Restriction Orders (EMROs) and Late Night Levies (LNLs) on alcohol vendors within a local vicinity, as part of the Government’s Alcohol Strategy. EMROs enable a licensing authority to prohibit the sale of alcohol for a specified time period between the hours of 12am and 6am in the whole or part of its area, if it is satisfied that this would be appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives.[2] So far, licensing authorities have been reluctant to make use of these extra powers; (to date) no EMROs and only a handful of LNLs have been approved.

On occasion, the Secretary of State for the Home Office may make an order relaxing licensing hours for licensed premises during events of “exceptional national significance”. This order was enacted for the England football team’s matches during the 2014 World Cup, the first time such a power was used for a sports event. This step was opposed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Local Government Association (LGA), the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), the National Organisation of Residents Associations (NORA), and the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA). These organisations argued that licensing authorities are best placed to make decisions about which premises should be allowed to stay open late and that with a national relaxation, councils and the police would not have a definitive picture of which premises intend to open later, making effective public safety planning much harder.[3]

Opening hours for the trading of alcohol on licensed premises have been extended on 2 other occasions since the introduction of the 2003 Licensing Act: 1) the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011 and; 2) the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.