BRITAIN TO END ALCOHOL LAST CALL

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's tradition-soaked pub culture is set to see its
biggest change in decades -- an easing of the nation's strict 11 p.m. last
call for alcohol, a government minister said Sunday.

The long-debated licensing change to allow pubs, bars, restaurants and
stores to sell alcohol later -- and perhaps around the clock -- is slated
to be one of the first acts of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government if it
wins a second term of office this summer, officials said.

While it may seem counterintuitive that keeping pubs open longer will
minimize problems with drunkenness, the Home Office argues that the current
limit encourages binge drinking before closing and causes chaotic crowds of
revelers to spill into the streets all at once, straining nighttime law
enforcement.

"Our proposals will deal with the antiquated and bureaucratic licensing
system and modernize it," Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien said. "They
will give business greater freedom, protect local residents, help the
police deal with law and order and give the public more opportunities to
socialize."

Blair's chief political rival, the Conservative Party, decried the
announcement as a cheap attempt to grab votes ahead of the national
election, planned for early June.

"How typical and opportunistic of Labor to revisit this in the run-up to
the election," said Ann Widdecombe, a senior Conservative lawmaker.

Blair's Labor Party holds a commanding lead over the Conservatives,
according to independent polls, and is widely expected to win re-election.

Proposals examined in a recent Home Office report include staggering
closings from 11 p.m. until the early morning hours or lifting national
restrictions altogether to allow local communities to determine closing times.

A change would "end the unnaturally early race to drink as much as possible
before closing time, when many are not yet ready to go," the report said.

Mark Hastings, a spokesman for the Brewers and Licensed Retailers
Association applauded the announcement, saying that the current closing
time -- one of the earliest in Western Europe -- treats Britons "like
children."