Since the dawn of time or thereabouts, the pub has been a sanctuary. Whether you’re stressed at work, burdened at home or looking for somewhere to conduct an indiscretion, the pub has always been a place of safety and confidence.
A key part of that sense of safety is the knowledge that you can shake off your troubles free from scrutiny. Provided you stab no one and make no inappropriate lunges, what you say or do in the pub is safe from intrusion.
But, like confidence in a bank manager and the honesty of elected representatives, taking that safety for granted is a mistake. There are those keen to see the freedom of the public house curtailed. This trend came to light recently when the new owner of the Draper’s Arms in Islington, North London, was told by police that, along with all new licences in the borough, support for his application would depend on him installing CCTV cameras that filmed the head and shoulders of every punter entering the pub.
After the owner objected and the information commissioner got involved, the police relented. But similar approaches have been reported in other boroughs, and last year a stipulation that Yorkshire pubgoers remove their headwear to give the cameras a clear view ran into fierce objection from doughty flat-cap wearers.
It is, as they say, a diabolical liberty. There are ample establishments whose colourful history makes CCTV a wise choice, but most pubs can happily do without it.
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I can feel a campaign coming on. The information commissioner has said that something must be done about this tendency among the police, but pubgoers themselves can do their bit by voting with their thirsts and favouring unfilmed pubs.
And if Mr Plod wants to know what’s going on, he’ll just have to come down for a chat like everybody else. I’ll happily meet him at the delightful Mitre, near Paddington station. It has lots of lovely carved wood, mosaic floors and etched-glass partitions, but, best of all, no CCTV and a very cosy snug where you can say what you damned well please.
Richard Brass The Mitre, 24 Craven Terrace, London W2 (020-7262 5240)