Perhaps the most surprising upshot from UKIP’s manifesto launch is that the party of Nigel Farage has made a pledge unlikely to be popular with the pub trade. The manifesto argues for the repeal of the 2003 Licensing Act, Blair’s ‘cafe culture’ law which brought in late opening hours, and appears to want to cut the number of pubs:
“To protect emergency workers from abuse, we will repeal the 2003 Licensing Act and bring in new legislation to reduce the density of alcohol outlets and restrict trading times.”
“Reduce the density of alcohol outlets”! What would Nigel say?
