Do you support restrictions on when alcohol can be sold?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

We have limits in Britain (no alcohol after 11pm, though this law has been loosened somewhat in the last decade and doesn't apply to nightclubs, for instance), which has basically turned us into the biggest binge drinkers in Europe. Emphatically, No.

Yeah, the 11pm rule is pretty stupid; a little tip for anyone here than might come over to the U.K fairly soon (the law is being changed at the moment so this won't apply next year. Probably) don't ever go near a city centre at 11pm or for quite a while afterwards. Bad, bad, bad idea.

As for the question, I think it should be up to local government.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Why do you people put up with those practices?

Depends what you mean by "put up with". Most people look down on binge drinkers and attempts to crack down on it (and other forms of anti-social behavior) are generally very popular. A good trick for an aspiring local politician in somewhere like Leeds or Manchester is to complain about the mess drunken students (from outside the city) make. Worth a few votes every time.
Not that there's a lot that can be done about it with the current licencing system though; most people just avoid areas with a lot of pubs, at closing time.

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Police can't arrest every piss artist you know

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Current licencing system has been around since WW1 or so. Blame the Liberals

The 11pm limit is going to be scrapped soon anyway; it may be to late to reverse the trend though. Which is why I support giving local government a lot of nice new powers over who can sell alcohol and when.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

As an additional warning, I should point out that the problem isn't just in city centres; there are a couple of smaller towns (usually within easy driving distance of one or more large to large-ish urban areas and a sizeable rural hinterland) that are if anything even worse... just about the worst place for binge drinking (if you adjust for size and all that) in the West Midlands is Bridgnorth. It's close to Wolverhampton, it's close to Dudley, it's close to Kiddy, it's close to Telford and it's surrounded by lots and lots of agricultural villages. On the main street you have pub after pub after pub and plenty of other places that serve alcohol. In total there are 27 pubs in Bridgnorth. This is in a town with a population of about 11,000.

Did I mention that it's also full of racists who moved out of Wolverhampton in the '60's and '70's because an Indian or West Indian family moved into their street?

On the plus side, it also has the best Indian restaurant for miles.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Aside from the obvious point that angus brought up, that Christianity is actually very pro-alcohol (one reason I can never be a Christian, I think drinking wine in church is deeply offensive)

This joke doesn't work that well outside a U.K context, but I like it anyway:

"A man ran through a crowded train looking very agitated, calling out, "Is there a Catholic priest on board?"

When he got no reply, he ran back up the train shouting, "Is there an Anglican priest on board?" Still no reply.

By now becoming more desparate, he ran down the train shouting, "Is there a Rabbi on board?"

Eventually, a gentleman stood up and said, "Can I be of any assistance, my friend? I'm a Methodist minister."

The man looked at him and said, "No, you're no bloody good. I need a corkscrew!"