{"id":30932,"date":"2026-08-07T09:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30932"},"modified":"2026-08-07T09:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T04:42:22","slug":"london-mayor-sadiq-khan-hits-out-at-westminster-councils-controversial-plans-to-prevent-new-venues-offering-music-dancing-and-similar-entertainment-in-soho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=30932","title":{"rendered":"London mayor Sadiq Khan hits out at Westminster Council\u2019s controversial plans to prevent new venues \u201coffering music, dancing and similar entertainment\u201d in Soho"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p>Sadiq Khan has hit out\u00a0at\u00a0controversial new plans from Westminster Council that could stop new Soho venues offering \u201cmusic, dancing and similar entertainment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Conservative-run council is currently consulting on\u00a0a new draft policy\u00a0that would cover some of the city\u2019s busiest nightlife districts.<\/p>\n<p>Under the plan, the council says it would \u201cnormally refuse\u201d licence applications for new pubs, bars, fast food premises or venues offering \u201cmusic, dancing and similar entertainment\u201d inside its West End Cumulative Impact Zone, which includes Soho and most of the West End.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the proposals today (August 6), the Mayor of London wrote: \u201cYou can\u2019t run a world-famous nightlife district with a village-hall mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLondon\u2019s hospitality and nightlife support jobs, culture and growth,\u201d he added. \u201cNew powers for City Hall will help ensure decisions consider the wider benefits for our city.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">You can&#8217;t run a world-famous nightlife district with a village-hall mindset.<\/p>\n<p>London&#8217;s hospitality and nightlife support jobs, culture and growth. <\/p>\n<p>New powers for City Hall will help ensure decisions consider the wider benefits for our city.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tiU0obRGvg\">https:\/\/t.co\/tiU0obRGvg<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Mg8iQ1Jwtf\">pic.twitter.com\/Mg8iQ1Jwtf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SadiqKhan\/status\/2085341510459920461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Later this year, Khan is expected to be given new powers that would allow him to intervene in some licensing decisions made by London councils in areas considered important to the city\u2019s night-time economy.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the mayor told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2026\/aug\/06\/westminster-council-wants-pubs-in-london-soho-west-end-ban-standing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>The Guardian<\/i><\/a>: \u201cThis is more evidence that restrictive and anti-growth policies aren\u2019t working. At a time when venues need our support more than ever, the rules on licensing are stacked against them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The draft policy also takes aim at people standing with drinks in pubs \u2013 described as \u201cvertical drinking\u201d \u2013 and\u00a0instead\u00a0recommends that venues provide more seating and\u00a0encouraging customers to \u201csit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Night Time\u00a0Industries Association (NTIA) has warned that the proposals\u00a0represent\u00a0\u201ca significant\u00a0shit\u00a0in direction that should concern the entire hospitality sector\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>NTIA CEO Michael Kill has said: \u201cWhat concerns us is the introduction of policy that appears to\u00a0favour\u00a0one style of operation over another without demonstrating that it will deliver better outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Dbs_JEEkh3Q\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Westminster Council deputy leader Tim Barnes defended the proposals, saying: \u201cWe want people to go out in the West End and have a good time.\u00a0Our guidance is simply about encouraging venues to manage their\u00a0customers\u00a0so people don\u2019t pack on to pavements or excessive drinking doesn\u2019t disturb others passing by.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/london-mayor-and-night-czar-under-attack-for-claiming-city-has-24-hour-culture-3597543\">Khan and former Night Czar Amy\u00a0Lam\u00e9 came under fire in 2024 for claiming that the capital had a \u201c24 hour\u00a0culture\u201d<\/a>, with some pointing to the fat that the city\u2019s nightlife was in decline, with\u00a0a number of\u00a0clubs are bars\u00a0shutting down in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Last year,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/central-london-to-get-designated-quiet-zones-amid-ongoing-nightlife-battle-3846515\">Westminster Council unveiled a plan to create \u201cquiet nights\u201d and \u201cquiet zones\u201d in its area<\/a>\u00a0after receiving noise complaints from\u00a0local residents.<\/p>\n<p>It comes as venues across the UK continue to face enormous financial pressures.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/music-venue-trust-report-2025-half-grassroots-no-profit-6000-jobs-lost-3924588\">The Music Venue Trust\u2019s latest annual report found that 30 grassroots venues closed permanently and another 48 stopped hosting live music<\/a> between July 2024 and July 2025, while over 50 per cent of grassroots venues reported no profit over that period and 6000 jobs were lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sadiq Khan has hit out\u00a0at\u00a0controversial new plans from Westminster Council that could stop new Soho venues offering \u201cmusic, dancing and similar entertainment\u201d. The Conservative-run council is currently consulting on\u00a0a new draft policy\u00a0that would cover some of the city\u2019s busiest nightlife districts. Under the plan, the council says it would \u201cnormally refuse\u201d licence applications for new&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/molotovs_live_2026.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}