Since then, his colleagues have denied that such a plan was being considered.
Public Health Secretary Andrew Gwynne told delegates at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool on Monday that while Britain’s new government was not a “fun policeman” or a “super nanny”, there could be economic and moral reasons for adjusting opening hours.
He said the current state of the nation’s health was “morally reprehensible” and that excessive drinking was putting enormous pressure on the National Health Service.
“This is a discussion we need to be having, even if it means reducing opening hours, particularly where there are concerns that people are drinking too much,” he said in remarks first reported by the Telegraph.
Under current rules, most British pubs and bars close at 11pm. But the Labour government has allowed pubs to apply for 24-hour drinking licences in a bid to curb the pace at which binge drinkers in Britain can drink.
Farage, a lifelong Liberal who has previously opposed proposals to restrict smoking outside pubs and bars, pounced on Gwynne’s comments, saying they would damage the “red wall” of Labor’s traditional heartland.
