The British Liver Trust joined the Alcohol Health Alliance and Alcohol Change UK last week in pushing back against the Government’s proposed relaxation of alcohol licensing rules.
The British Liver Trust believes that we urgently need to reframe how we understand alcohol dependency and harmful drinking. It’s not just the stereotypical image of someone drinking on a park bench—many of us consume alcohol at levels that quietly damage our health, relationships, and wellbeing. Yet society often treats alcohol misuse as a moral failing, a matter of poor choices or weak willpower, rather than the complex medical and psychological issue it truly is. This stigma prevents people from seeking help, when in fact they are entitled to compassionate, evidence-based medical support.
We’ve built an environment where harmful drinking is not only easy but normalized: alcohol is cheap, available around the clock from countless outlets, and deeply embedded in our social rituals. To reduce harm, we must shift the narrative—from blame and shame to empathy and action—and recognize that anyone can be affected, and everyone deserves care.
The current Government is seeking to drive economic growth by allowing bars, pubs and restaurants to stay open later, among other measures designed to ‘cut the red tape’ in the hospitality sector. All the while, deaths from alcohol-related liver disease increase year-on-year – from 2019 to 2023 alone, there has been a devastating 35% increase in alcohol-related liver disease [i].
A consultation and public ‘call for evidence’ was launched by the Government to help inform future licencing arrangements for the ‘on trade’ sale of alcohol in venues such as pubs, restaurants and nightclubs. We joined the third sector in providing evidence against the new proposal, citing concerns about public health and safety that could come from making it easier to access alcohol.
Later nights mean more harm
The main effect of these proposals would be making it easier for on-service venues – those where alcohol is served to be consumed on the premises – to stay open later.
We advocated against longer nights of alcohol consumption increase the chance of drinking to a damaging level. As many as 1 in 5 people in the UK already drink alcohol in a way that could damage their liver[ii], and allowing venues and off-licenses to serve for longer periods of time will only increase problem drinking.
Those struggling with alcohol-related liver disease who are trying to reduce their alcohol intake would also suffer under these new proposals – alcohol would become more available, and for longer parts of the day.
Centralising licensing affects more deprived communities
Part of this proposal is a new National Licensing Policy Framework which puts local decisions around licensing more into the hands of the central government.
The new framework takes away power from local authorities who understand the needs of their communities. The most deprived communities, who have far higher rates of alcohol-related liver disease and deaths than less deprived communities, would be negatively impacted by licensing decisions being made far away from their communities, by decision-makers who are distant from their day-to-day realities.
Again, people trying to cut down on their alcohol intake for the sake of their liver health are the ones who suffer here – decisions made far away make it easier for them to access alcohol.
Public health not economic growth
Another key part of this proposal is the inclusion of economic growth as a licensing objective. Under the current system, licenses are granted to businesses only after assessing a series of public safety objectives.
Including economic growth as an objective will increase the harm caused by alcohol. This would make it harder for local authorities to control late-night sales in both off- and on-sales.
The potential for drinking to levels that would cause liver damage would increase within a system that gives equal weight between economic growth and health.
The current situation
Alcohol is the leading cause of liver disease in the UK, accounting for 6 in 10 cases of liver disease[iii]. As of 2022, deaths from alcohol-related causes were over 33% higher than in 2019, with 76% of those deaths being attributed to alcohol-related liver disease[iv].
Against this stark backdrop, we must ensure that any changes to the licensing system prioritise public health over economic growth.
[i]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/alcoholspecificdeathsintheuk
[ii] https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/information-and-support/liver-conditions/alcohol-related-liver-disease/
[iii] https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/information-and-support/liver-conditions/alcohol-related-liver-disease/
[iv]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/bulletins/alcoholrelateddeathsintheunitedkingdom/registeredin2022