Can Starmer’s late-night World Cup openings help Britain’s struggling pubs?

<p>While venues could stay open until 2am, rising costs remain a far bigger concern for many landlords </p><p>Picture the scene: it’s 1am on a sultry July night and Jude Bellingham has just scored the decisive penalty to send England into the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/world-cup-2026">World Cup</a> semi-final. Cue wild celebrations among millions of pub goers, fuelled by the realisation that there is still an hour until closing time.</p><p>Keir Starmer may have imagined a national morale-boosting spectacle such as this when his government told hospitality venues that they could stay open until 2am on some World Cup match days.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/12/world-cup-late-openings-britain-struggling-pubs">Continue reading...</a>

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