I've been refused in Morrisons in town despite me and the missus both HAVING ID. She's American and had her US passport for ID. Both mid twenties. Cashier told us they wouldn't accept non-EU ID because they hadn't been trained to 'see if it was fake'. Showed her the great big visa stamp from the Home Office, plus her entry stamps from France, Spain and Ireland. Made sure she knew how daft I thought it made her seem that this ID was good enough for multiple immigration officers in multiple countries, and good enough for the British government, but wasn't good enough to buy a bottle of wine in't supermarket. Went to another till 10 minutes later where her ID was mysteriously accepted.
If this is the case in shops how do parents manage to get served in pubs when they've got kids with them ?
Some of them. It'll depend on their license and internal rules. I don't allow under 18s on the premises at all, and so not serving them may well be a condition of my licence, but if so that would only be because I'd put it in my application. There's no blanket ban on serving under 18s soft drinks, because it isn't a licensable activity.
Indeed. Immigration officers will be trained to recognise passports from all over the world. I doubt Morrisons provide similar training.