Khan Orders Westminster to Drop 10pm Pub Curbs and Soho Bar Ban
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 9
Khan Orders Westminster to Drop 10pm Pub Curbs and Soho Bar Ban
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 9
Summary
Sadiq Khan used his new intervention powers for the first time to tell Westminster council to rewrite a draft licensing policy that would block most new pubs and bars in Soho and the West End.
The draft would impose 10pm last orders for newly licensed pubs, 11:30pm weekday nightclub closures, midnight weekend cutoffs, table service and limits on standing drinkers under a “vertical drinking” rule.
Khan said the policy would damage London’s nightlife economy, citing Home Office data showing only 41 licence applications in the West End impact zone in 2023-24, with just 16 granted.
He also pointed to Westminster figures showing only 3.5% of applications reaching a licensing subcommittee were approved exactly as submitted from 2023 to 2026, while pub and wine bar applications fell 80% in 2022-24.
The clash tests City Hall’s expanded authority over licensing and could remove cumulative impact and core-hours restrictions across Soho, the West End, Mayfair and Victoria if Westminster backs down.