They've also said that people may be refused soft drinks and coffee in order to get rid of them.
I can accept that older children may get bored and play up and its not on to sit and actively get drunk with kids around but most pubs these days actively rely on family custom for their revenue following the smoking ban so it will be interesting to see how this pans out.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the policy but it probably is a little hypocritical of some establishments to take the dosh for say a family meal and then throw people out an hour or so later using a pretentious moral argument of child protection. I'm listening to the guy from Wetherspoons as I write and it all sounds a bit unclear and messy.

The root of the problem is probably that they are all struggling with business right now and are scrambling around desperately for scapegoats and ways of getting people spending.