London’s nightlife is getting even more embarrassing

In the end, there was little reason why England fans might have wanted to hang around after yesterday’s Euros final, except to bum an Estrella off a celebrating Spaniard. But in the unlikely event that football had come home, those of us watching in London would have been left high, if not necessarily dry, by London’s ‘world-leading’ police force and public transport network.

Yesterday afternoon, at the helpfully late time of 3.51 p.m, the Met warned football fans travelling into central London to avoid street drinking. Having issued an antisocial dispersal order, those congregating in the street with a beer could be made to move on. It also suggested pubs were full, so it might be an idea to watch at home. 

This pressing need to avoid drinking or congregating in Westminster streets will come as news to the sodden staffers who crowd around Whitehall on weekdays and the legions of angry young men whose marches were a weekly misery after 7 October.