Bars open on Sundays.
In the NEWS 1977...
Bars on Sunday...
The fight for and against seven day licence.
The stage is set in Scotland for a controversial battle over Sunday pub opening. In the coming weeks Scotland's towns, cities, hills and glens from Dumfries to John O'Groats will be ringing with the voices of two highly opposed factions... the ones who see no harm in a Sunday dram and those bitterly against the idea.
No one yet knows which pubs will be granted licences for Sabbath imbibing. But one thing is certain. Parliament has decided that the country is to have Sunday opening, and when the objectors have all had their say and the dust of battle has settled in the licensing board courtrooms, Scotland's drinking habits will have taken another giant step forward.
BIGGEST RESPONSE
Here in Glasgow, perhaps predictably, city publicans have overwhelmingly shown their desire to get in step with modern trends.
Out of a total of 750 existing public houses in the city, nearly 500 have dug into their tills for the £25 fee necessary to apply for Sunday opening... the biggest response of Scotland's four big cities.
And Mr Charles Hornburgh, depute clerk to the licensing board of Glasgow, reckons that more will follow. "My feeling is that some have been waiting for others to apply, and if they see that the response is favourable, then they will come forward too," he declared.
SMALL ARMY
But for the publicans, the road to Sunday opening could be a rocky one. For 21 days before the next licensing board meeting in his area, in Glasgow it begins on October 14, he must display a notice on the outside of his premises indicating his intention to open his doors to the public on the day of rest.
Four weeks to go and Glasgow will be satisfying the Sabbath thirsts...
He must also serve notice in writing to every other occupier in the building in which his pub is housed. And when you think of all the public houses on the ground floor of Glasgow tenements, that amounts to a small army of potential objectors.
On top of that, any day now the clerk of the city's licensing board will be publishing a list of the applications in the press.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
Objectors then have until seven days before the board meeting to lodge their objections. What standards will pubs holding current six-day licences have to reach to be granted the coveted Sunday one?
They are outlined in the Licensing (Scotland) Act, which states that a board must grant a Sunday licence unless it is satisfied that to do so would cause "undue disturbance or public nuisance" in the locality.
The board, explained Mr Horsburgh, will have to look at each application on its own merits. There are no general principles which can be adopted.
EARLY SITTING
But further controversy could be caused by the way in which individual boards, there are 19 in Strathclyde, one for each district, choose to look at the Act. it is capable of different interpretations."
What might be considered a disturbance in one area might not attract a second glance in another. The sounds of intoxicated street revelry to someone living in the centre of Glasgow might not be an accepted part of life, but to a couple of elderly spinster sisters living in a quiet rural cottage in Renfrewshire it could amount to a terrifying experience.
Depending on which part of Scotland you live in; Sunday pub opening could fall on any one of a number of Sabbaths.
Publicans granted a licence can open on the first Sabbath after the granting. As Glasgow's licensing board is meeting on October 14, some lucky city drinkers could be toasting history in their locals on Sunday the sixteenth. But as the meeting is expected to last two or three days, many will be on tenterhooks over the weekend.
And if a licence is granted, despite objections, the objector have two weeks in which to lodge an appeal. After that, if no appeals are forthcoming, the publican can open his doors. If an appeal is made then it's anyone's guess on the outcome.
BIG PROBLEM
But one thing is certain, the relatively early sitting of Glasgow's licensing board next month will mean that we will beat Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen to the tape and be the first major city in Scotland to toast Sunday opening.
The police claim they are ready to deal with any extra problems that Sunday opening might throw on their already under-strength force.
A spokesman for Strathclyde police said confidently- "I think we will be able to cope perfectly adequately. We have already had Sunday football which threw an extra work load on to us on certain occasions and we managed then. We will police the streets accordingly."
Bosses of the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive plan a "wait and see" campaign for when Sunday opening comes into effect. Said a spokesman- "If there is any need to supplement or increase our existing service, then we will do so. But with late night opening our bus services seem to have been coping quite adequately."
Mr James Hughes, administrator of the Glasgow Council on Alcoholism, is against the whole concept of Sunday opening. "One of the statistics that you can rely upon," he explained, "is the per-capita consumption of alcohol. When it goes up, the incidence of alcoholism rises.
MORE DIFFICULT
"I am still convinced that the object of Sunday opening is to increase consumption- although the publicans may deny this- and therefore you will increase the incidence of alcoholism."
He added- "The weekend drinker is becoming a very big problem. The norm for weekend consumption seems to be getting greater and it makes our task more difficult.
"You get a guy who is maybe a borderline alcoholic. His wife thinks he has a problem, but he can't see that because he is only doing what the guy next to him is doing."
And a spokesman for Alcoholics Anonymous in the city said- "We are not for temperance and we hold no views for or against. Drink is all right for the guy next door, but for the alcoholic it is poison."
He added- "In actual fact, I don't know what all the fuss is about. I have been off drink for 20 years, but when I was drinking I could drink 24 hours a day in this city."
The good news is that prices won't soar...
The good news for Sunday drinkers is that if it does cost more to slake you thirst on the Sabbath the increase will probably be minimal.
For Scotland's landlords and brewers seen to be making a genuine effort to peg liquor prices on the Sabbath. Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, who own 450 public houses throughout the country, are optimistic that Sunday will be just like any other day.
INCREASE
Said a spokesman - "I am not going to say that there are never going to be any price increases. That would be ridiculous. "But certainly in the beginning we don't see any need to increase prices.
"We will monitor the operation on a week to week basis just as we did with extended hours." He added that the company would be applying for Sunday licences "in areas where there is a need."
And a spokesman for Tennent Caledonian Breweries, who have applied for Sunday licences for 200 of the 450 pubs in Scotland which they own, said- "We have not yet come to a decision on pricing."
John Waterson ownes two pubs in Glasgow- the Jean Armour in Pollokshaws and Burns Howff in West Regent Street. If he has to increase his prices, he stresses it will not be "staggering or crippling"- probably only a taken 1p.
LICENCE
He added- "I imagine that any price increases will run the whole week through, but as far as I am concerned, there will not be a two price structure - one for mid-week and another for Sunday."
Said Mr Colin Campbell, a partner in the Snaffle Bit Public House in Sauchiehall Street. - "I shouldn't think it will make any difference if we are granted a licence. Sunday will just be like any other day.
"If I have to increase my prices, I suppose it would be better putting 1p on an overall basis throughout the week."
Pub proprietor David Main has applied for a Sunday licence for the Overflow in Old Dumbarton Road. "I will be running Sunday opening as a separate issue," he said. "We will be doing it on a trial basis, perhaps until the New Year, and then having a rethink. If we do have to put up our prices, we hope it will be minimal."
The Saints and Sinners in St Vincent Street are also hoping to operate Sundays as a "wait and see" operation. Said proprietor Mohammed Soofi: "It depends on how it works. We are not changing our prices for the moment."
End.
