Brown U-Turn On 24-Hour Drinking Laws?
Is Brown going to try and repeal the pretty much only good law Labour passed?
The prime minister said binge-drinking was “unacceptable” and that he would “not hesitate to change policies” if he thought this was necessary.
He told Labour’s annual conference the government would shut down off-licences selling alcohol to children. (BBC)
The 24-hour drinking law is pretty much the only good law that Labour have passed in the last decade. The old drinking laws were out of date and causing much of the problems Britain had with alcohol-related crime themselves.
24-hour drinking remains nothing more than an urban myth. Few people want to drink at all times of the day, but what the laws do is enable pubs and bars to set their own closing times. This means that 11pm isn’t throw-out time at every pub, and so much of the alcohol-fuelled violence is distilled by the lack of such large numbers of drunk people in the same area at the same time. The longer drinking times also means that few feel so pressured to down lots of alcohol quickly just as 11 o’clock approaches. They can thus take their time, and then end up getting less drunk. The 24-hour drinking laws may not have been a complete success, but the adaption of a national drinking character takes time. But the effects of the change have been positive overall.
And now Brown wants to repeal this law. What an idiot. This shows that his centralist, authoritarian nature is shining through. Let people drink when they want to. And binge-drinking as they define isn’t “unacceptable” at all. Constant binge-drinking at that level is, but the level they set binge-drinking at - about 4 pints - is absurdly low. Real binge-drinking doesn’t start until at least 7 or 8 pints.
What Brown is doing is trying to exert the power of the state over something which is none of it’s business. How much, when, and where I drink is none of his business. Everyone knows the effects that alcohol can have on their body, and they make their own decision based on that how much to drink and how often. It’s not the government’s job. To even try and repeal the new drinking laws would be a very very stupid idea.
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Actually if they did try to repeal them it would hit them hard.
So in a way it would be good to watch them fall on this issue.
Never mind - if he does repeal the act, he will still be able to get a nippy sweetie on the rocks in his constituency of Kirkcaldy - as he has no power to repeal it in Scotland… ain’t devolution wonderful?