{"text":[[{"start":9.55,"text":"Sir Keir Starmer has announced an emergency law to allow pubs to stay open until 5am on Monday, as England prepare to play Mexico in the next knockout round of the World Cup."}],[{"start":21.55,"text":"Starmer gave his blessing to an all-night party — or wake, depending on the result — by saying that pubs and bars in England and Wales can stay open into the early hours to show the game, which kicks off at 1am."}],[{"start":33.4,"text":"“Football might be coming home, but we’re making sure fans don’t have to,” Starmer announced, as he in effect guaranteed that offices, factories and shops will be depleted of staff on Monday morning."}],[{"start":44.15,"text":"If England continue to progress in the World Cup, football could provide a surprise late lift to Starmer’s premiership, which will officially come to an end on July 20."}],[{"start":55.55,"text":"The World Cup final takes place a day earlier in New Jersey on July 19, offering Starmer the tantalising hope that his premiership could end with England lifting the trophy for the first time since 1966."}],[{"start":70,"text":"Starmer said on Thursday: “Pubs staying open until the final whistle is good news for supporters and good news for the pubs and venues that bring our communities together.”"}],[{"start":80.5,"text":"His announcement came just hours after business minister Kate Dearden insisted the government would “unfortunately” not relax the licensing rules to cover the late-night encounter with joint hosts Mexico."}],[{"start":93.5,"text":"Sir Sadiq Khan, London mayor, was among those criticising that apparent decision and Starmer performed an immediate U-turn, announcing that a statutory instrument would be laid in parliament to allow the late opening."}],[{"start":107.15,"text":"The home secretary has the legislative power to extend licensing hours on occasions of “exceptional international, national or local significance”. "}],[{"start":116.30000000000001,"text":"Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said pubs and fans “will be over the moon about this decision”."}],[{"start":124.65,"text":"“This tournament is massively important for our sector, and so far we’ve poured approximately 10mn extra pints off the back of the England and Scotland games, which is a £50mn boost for pubs.”"}],[{"start":137.8,"text":"Dom Jacobs, managing director of Ardent Pub Group, said there was “kind of an annoyance” since he had already applied for temporary event notices for all three of his pubs, adding “I don’t know why they couldn’t have planned that beforehand . . . But we obviously welcome any form of support.”"}],[{"start":153.9,"text":"He said he was still waiting to “see what the appetite is like” for the World Cup before deciding how many of his pubs would stay open until 5am."}],[{"start":163.15,"text":"“We’ve been umming and ah-ing about it because it’s obviously very late: There’s a lot of planning that goes into these things. But still, World Cup fever is a real thing.” "}],[{"start":173.1,"text":"Steve Fine, chief executive of investment bank Peel Hunt, told the FT he would allow staff to come in late or work from home on Monday, so long as their line managers approved. "}],[{"start":184.2,"text":"He said working from home would be a “big benefit to our traders — they can wake up to be ready for 7am announcements rather than getting in early, especially if it goes to penalties and doesn’t finish until 3 or 4 in the morning”."}],[{"start":197.04999999999998,"text":"Other large City firms, including KPMG and Deloitte, have highlighted that they already have hybrid flexible working models."}],[{"start":204.64999999999998,"text":"NatWest said that normal office or working location arrangements would still apply on Monday. Sainsbury’s said office staff would be coming in as normal as the group must be respectful of its shop workers, who had to turn up at normal opening times to serve customers."}],[{"start":219.59999999999997,"text":"The CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, said that while employers were under no obligation to make special arrangements for World Cup matches, they could choose to offer flexibility to their staff. "}],[{"start":239.19999999999996,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783047350_4435.mp3"}