PLANS to allow round-the-clock drinking face a last-minute revolt from MPs who fear that the proposals will increase violent crime.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats joined forces yesterday to demand that the Government delay the most sweeping changes to the licensing laws for 90 years.

They will use a little-known parliamentary process called “praying” in an attempt to wring concessions from the Government. The rebellion comes after comments by judges in England and Wales that the new laws could bring an increase in “drink-fuelled violence and worse”.

Ministers fear that growing concern over binge drinking may lead some Labour MPs to join the demands for compromise. There were suggestions last night that opponents of the proposal would seek government assurances of an early review of the changes.

Another suggestion was that ministers should not rely on the drinks industry to police itself over cheap drinks promotions and safety measures.

Although the police are divided over relaxation of the licensing laws, one chief constable yesterday increased pressure on the Government by giving warning that binge drinking could extend into weekdays.

Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Cheshire, said that the consequence of many bars and pubs asking to stay open for an hour or two longer each night would be drunken behaviour in the early hours of the morning in many towns and cities.

“Already in the various applications coming through, we are seeing a general extension of an hour or two on to existing hours. And that means some of the problems we see on a Friday and Saturday night, we feel are now going to spread into other nights of the week.”

He said that another consequence of having officers on duty in the early hours would be fewer police on the beat during daytime.

His prediction will cause consternation within the Government, which is committed to greatly increasing the presence of police during the day.

The opportunity to sabotage the Act arises because it does not come into force until November 24. Ministers have laid an order for the new regime to become operational on that day, but under an arcane procedure known as “praying” MPs can object to the plan.

They will have 40 days from the return of the Commons on October 10 to register objections to the start of the new licensing regime. A special Commons committee would then have to debate whether to let the changes go ahead.

A similar procedure would take place in the House of Lords, where the Government has no overall majority.

MPs rarely make use of their right to “pray” but opposition parties suggested last night that they expected individual MPs to object and early day motions to be laid opposing the measure. Ministers were taken aback at the opposition and MPs’ doubts may be bolstered by the ferocity of attacks from judges and chief constables.

“The Government has still not formally passed the legislation. That could come before us again, and if we get enough people voting against it that’s one way of putting it off,” Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat culture spokesman, said.

He is planning to make a formal objection. “The Licensing Act should be put on hold until judges, the police and the public feel confident that their streets are safe,” he said.

Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, whose party backed the measure on second reading, also called for a delay.

“We have said that the Act should not be brought into effect until binge drinking has been brought under control. I’m afraid we are a very long way from doing that,” he said.

But any delay would plunge the licensing system into chaos in the run-up to Christmas. Many local authorities have already agreed new licensing conditions for pub and clubs.

James Purnell, the Licensing Minister, said that any delay would deny the police new powers in the Act to control irresponsible landlords and binge drinkers. However, he promised that the Government would carefully assess the impact of the changes if yobbish behaviour worsened.

“The laws will be reviewed and if it does turn out that there are problems then of course we will act,” he said.

He also responded to the warnings from judges. “The problems they are talking about are happening under the existing regime and the Act brings in new powers to deal with them,” he said.

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