London mayor orders council to drop plan to ban new pubs and bars in Soho and West End

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan urges Westminster council to adopt ‘positive vision of economic growth’ of nightlife Sadiq Khan has ordered Westminster council to scrap a policy that would ban new pubs and bars from opening in Soho and the West End of London. This comes after the Guardian revealed the council’s new licensing policy asks pubs to stop customers from standing up while consuming beverages, which it calls “vertical drinking”. The policy is under consultation and also asks pubs to have table service rather than allowing orders at the bar. There was widespread anger at the plans to direct those applying to open new bars and restaurants in Westminster to implement the restrictions. The mayor of London has new powers, granted by the government this year, to intervene in licensing decisions. He is using these for the first time to ask the council to rewrite the draft policy. The Conservative Westminster councillors decree in the draft policy that newly licensed pubs should have to serve last orders at 10pm, and nightclubs should shut by 11.30pm on weekdays and at midnight on weekends. It also labels the entirety of Soho and the West End as a “cumulative impact zone”, which means no mo