‘Every Pub a Parliament’ Under Threat: Discussion of Transgenderism, Religion Could Be Banned in British Boozers

British pubs could soon be forced to police the speech of customers on contentious issues such as transgenderism and religion in the latest crackdown on the institution by the leftist Labour government.

Under plans to supposedly protect workers in customer-facing jobs, such as pub staff, the Labour government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has proposed reforms mandating employers protect workers from harassment by “third parties,” such as customers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) watchdog has warned that impending “worker’s rights” legislation threatens to “disproportionately curtail” freedom of speech, the Times of London reported.

The ECHR raised particular concern over how the legislation could impact “overheard conversations” in places like pubs where patrons may discuss controversial issues such as issues surrounding gender or religion, which employers may not recognise should be allowed as protected “philosophical beliefs”.

“The legal definition of what amounts to philosophical belief is complex and not well understood by employers,” the watchdog said. “It is arguable that these difficulties may lead to disproportionate restriction of the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR.”

Government ministers have acknowledged that freedom of speech issues may arise, “particularly in areas of legitimate debate which are carried out in a contentious manner”.

However, it argued that the definition of harassment in its legislation: “unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating the recipient’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”, is limited enough to prevent overreach.

The chief executive of the EHRC, John Kirkpatrick, said: “The UK government has acknowledged the potential for unintended consequences in its economic analysis and summary impact assessment. We have invited the Committee to consider carefully the balance between, for example, rights to freedom from harassment and freedom of expression.”

“For this legislation to have the desired effect, it needs to be enforceable. For it to be enforceable, we need clarity on the role of regulators — including the EHRC — and sufficient resource to ensure compliance,” he added.

A British Beer and Pub Association spokesman commented: “Any legalisation must be carefully drafted to make sure it does not have unintended consequences, such as pub workers expected to decide whether private conversations between customers constitute a violation of law.”

The potential imposition of speech codes in pubs is just the latest assault on the industry, which is still struggling to recover from the fallout of draconian lockdown measures in Britain during the Chinese coronavirus.

Pubs won a slight victory in November after the government was forced to abandon plans to ban smoking in outdoor spaces like beer gardens after heavy public pushback.

However, the struggling businesses were slapped with a Retail Price Index (RPI) tax increase on non-draught alcohols in the autumn budget by the Labour government, which came on top of the 20 per cent tax hike on most wines and 10 per cent on spirits the previous year by the former Tory government.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has cast the attacks on the industry as an attempt to stifle British democracy, long arguing that “every pub is a parliament” where locals can congregate and freely discuss the issues of the day without fear of censorship, as is increasingly occurring on social media in Britain.

“I love pubs, because every one is a parliament. We discuss local issues, national issues, international issues, they’re really important places,” Farage remarked earlier this year.

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