Cllr Tim Barnes, Westminster City Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Growth and Planning, went on BBC London on Friday evening to set the record straight on the council's draft licensing policy, after claims that it would ban people from standing up to drink in pubs and bars.
Asked directly by BBC London's Tolu Adeoye whether the council was trying to ban people from standing up to have a drink, Cllr Barnes was unequivocal:
"Absolutely not. We are strongly in favour of people who want to come out and enjoy Soho and the rest of the West End's pubs, bars, restaurants, standing, sitting, whatever's best for them."
He explained that the policy is about practical pavement management, making sure routes stay clear for wheelchairs and prams, not about forcing existing pubs and bars to go seated only. New licences, he added, may find it easier to be approved if seating is part of the plan.
The story had drawn comment from the Mayor of London, who called the approach a "village hall mindset," and from Downing Street. Cllr Barnes, who lives in Soho himself, pushed back:
"We should be able to regulate licensing in Westminster properly.
What we should also be looking at is exactly why we have to limit some of the activity, and that's really down to the failures of the Mayor.
If we had the police that we need, if we had late-night buses, if we had late-night transport, we'd be able to have more people staying out late at night and enjoying themselves, as we'd all really like to see."
The consultation on Westminster's licensing policy closes this Sunday.
You can watch Tolu Adeoye's interview with Cllr Tim Barnes in full here.
