Starmer mulls steps to let all pubs open late for England-Mexico World Cup match

Keir Starmer is considering steps to see pubs open longer for the next England match that kicks off at 1am on Monday.

It is currently up to councils to decide whether pubs can stay open late to allow fans to watch the end of the match, with local government secretary Steve Reed urging them to sign off on extended hours.

But outgoing UK prime minister is understood to be exploring options to allow all pubs to remain open throughout the night.

England will face Mexico in the Round of 16 at the Fifa World Cup after beating the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2-1 on Wednesday.

Monday’s match is not covered by existing measures to extend pub hours for England matches until 2am, and would run past that time anyway.

The Liberal Democrats earlier called for a blanket extension for licensing hours, but No 10 said “it is for local councils to make those decisions”.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The Secretary of State for Housing and Communities has written to councils to encourage them to sign off applications for pubs to extend their hours even further for these late games so that fans can enjoy the football.”

In a video posted to X, Reed said: “There are still some councils that are saying no to the pubs, and my message to those councils is please say yes, do everything you can to get those doors open and the fans inside and I will back you all the way.”

Pubs will need a temporary event notice to show the match at all, as earlier licensing extensions only apply to matches that kick off between 9pm and 10pm.

https://x.com/SteveReedMP/status/2072663967223198046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Dudley Council told the Press Association it had approved 40 such notices for Monday’s match, however any premises applying on Thursday would be