Police chief backs magistrate control of licensing

A police chief has put his weight behind a campaign to prevent the government switching control of licensing away from magistrates to local authorities.

Chief Superintendent Simon Humphrey, who heads the Metropolitan Police drugs and vice unit, told guests at the British Institute of Innkeeping's National Industry Training Awards he would "rue the day" if the proposed move, part of the White Paper on licensing reform, goes ahead, saying the introduction of politics into licensing could threaten "basic human rights".

"It will remove a tried and tested system which has independence and impartiality built into it," he said.

"Instead we will all have to fight our corner."

Chf Supt Humphrey added that new police powers included in the Criminal Police and Justice Act, allowing officers to close pubs on the spot, were being used "sparingly and appropriately". But he called for closer co-operation between police and the trade.

"We need you more than you need us," he said, praising the pub industry's "new emphasis on service and hospitality".