It's last orders

New law will call time on bingeing

CLAMP: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith

By Jamie Lyons, 30/11/2008

SWEEPING new laws to crack down on the scourge of binge-drinking will be announced by the government this week.

Ministers say a voluntary code of conduct for the drinks industry has failed-so they are bringing in compulsory changes.

Under the proposals pubs and off- licences will be FORCED to put up lists at the tills saying exactly how many units of alcohol are in each drink.

Experts believe the gradual increase in the alcohol content in wines and beer is partly to blame for drunkenness. Twenty years ago the average amount of alcohol in beers and lagers was between 3.5 per cent and four per cent. Now the most popular drinks are between five and 5.5 per cent with strong lagers up to eight per cent.

The government will also BAN promotions like all-you-can-drink deals or women-drink-free offers.

And FINES for drinking in public will be massively increased. Currently cops can impose a £500 penalty for drinking in areas where it is forbidden, such as city centres. That fine will be increased to £2,500. Cops will also be given greater powers to SEIZE booze from kids.

Currently they can only confiscate alcohol from children they can prove were going to drink it. That means it is difficult to nab cans and bottles that have not been opened.

The government will also TOUGHEN the law on shops selling alcohol to children. At present they can lose their licence if they are caught selling booze to kids three times in three months. But in future they will lose it if they are caught out twice in three months.

The changes are included in a policing and crime bill to be announced in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday. The bill comes after a government report found 10 million adults regularly drink more than guidelines. Boozing also costs £25 billion a year in drink-related crime and health costs.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "We all face a cost from alcohol- related disorder and I have a duty to crack down."

MINISTERS were yesterday unable to agree on plans to cut cigarette sales. Health Secretary Alan Johnson wants displays of ciggies in shops outlawed, forcing them under the counter. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson is blocking the idea because it would hurt small shops.

Your comments

This article has 11 comments

Jaquie Smith is a clown, she is a hectoring control freak with no control on the "eve'nin all" brigade; a pox on you maam!

By Rob. Posted November 30 2008 at 8:15 PM.

i'm 47 and i've been a binge drinker since i was 16 and will continue to do so, i've never caused trouble but i have slumped in the street a few times but these days the worst i get is the inability to walk in a straight line, there are 1000s more like me out there but tbh theres not much this government can do that will stop me apart from banning alchohol altogether

By r.j.b.. Posted November 30 2008 at 5:32 PM.

the government are not looking at this right. why is it time and time again the pub trade is slaughtered. only the other day i was reading through a national paper and asda were offering THREE cases of premium lager for £20 and then the best bit at the bottom of the page said that asda supports responible drinking. the supermarkets are killing the trade. people are buying this stupidly low price lager and then hitting the town with there mates all ready tanked up. they are the people the government want to target, not the publicans who have hundreds of rules already to follow

By adam gearing. Posted November 30 2008 at 4:52 PM.

Raise the minimum age to 21. Only sell at government outlets. Just like Canada - and then see all the small businesses shut down. Wrong. Its the parents,and the shops that sell to under-age drinkers. Why should the older ,more responsible adults, be made to pay for the younger generation who seem to have no guide lines at all. The PC brigade have ruined our country.

By Laura. Posted November 30 2008 at 4:30 PM.

Yet again the grovement trying tell us whats best for us,were they never young enjoyed themselves

By Ian Lightfoot. Posted November 30 2008 at 4:14 PM.

Increasing fines to £2500 wont make any difference - has anyone ever been fined £500 and paid it? These measures are being brought in and are crucifying pubs who simply cannot compete with supermarkets. I dont believe either should be stopped from having deals and offers. The people who abuse are in the minority as has always been the case and always will be. The people being punished are the ones who dont drink illegally or cause trouble whilst out. As for this nonsense about only being able to buy wine in supermarkets to enjoy with a meal - I have never heard such crap in my life. If I choose to do my shopping in a supermarket and they have competitively priced products why should I be forced to identify how and when I wish to drink what I buy. As long as I am not breaking the law or putting anyone in danger I believe I can choose where I shop and what I buy. These nanny state rules are starting to do my head right in. I am an intelligent person capable of making my own choices (and admittedly mistakes) I appreciate there are people who cant - concentrate on those not punishing everyone and pushing us to live in a nanny state.

By Jane. Posted November 30 2008 at 3:57 PM.

This government will never solve the problem on binge drinking with the way things are right now. its not the units of alcohol or the size of the measures thats causing people to binge. This culture of bingeing is engraved into British lifestyle and nothing can change that unless there is restraint and punishment. and only recently a council introduced taxi services to assist drunks in getting home and another council is offering flip-flops to women who might lose their footwear. How idiotic can these councils get? Hows that going to deter people from getting wasted? By restraint I mean putting a cap on pubs opening/closing times. They should all be closed by 2 am as well as off licences. The police should have a curfew in place esp for minors. Can anyone tell me what could you possibly not do at 11pm but can only do or enjoy at 3am?
If there is a curfew all around town, these people would still be sober enough to go home or go somewhere private and be safe rather than spill out in the streets.
And drunk people should be left in the street until they sober up. That will teach them a lesson. For them to be taken to A and E only fuel their bravado that they can do it over and over again.
These are very simple and effective solutions but it still escapes me as to why they are not carried out long before.

By Angelo Suarez. Posted November 30 2008 at 1:15 PM.

FINES for drinking in public will be massively increased. Currently cops can impose a £500 penalty for drinking in areas where it is forbidden, such as city centres. That fine will be increased to £2,500. Cops will also be given greater powers to SEIZE booze from kids.

Yeah sure and they are all going to pay up .. does anyone know of a single person who has had a £500 fine for this drinking in a forbidden area ,,

the only people I know that might be affected are homeless methers and dossers doing this,and how are theye going to enforce the fine on them LOL ,, and as most strips of bars are in city centres sort of defeats the point of it all doesnt it

basically its a token designed to appease the do gooders and it will never get enforced

By Peesed Orf with NuLabor. Posted November 30 2008 at 12:50 PM.

The problem is the desire to get so drunk in the first place, it has become the normal thing to do to get half cut before you go out, this is helped by the availability of cheap supermarket booze & until we put a stop to that we are on a hiding to nothing.
Supermarkets should only be allowed to sell wine so that it can be consumed as part of a meal, any other alcohol should only be available from off licenses & pubs & licensing hours should be reviewed, all licensed premises should be closed by 2am at the latest.
It is a shame that we have to take these measures but it would seem that responsibility is not very high on the agenda these days.

By Mike. Posted November 30 2008 at 11:47 AM.

I am for supporting anything that will take away the disgusting sight of violent binge drinkers wasting police time in our noolabour disfigured city centres night after night.
However, I am NOT for supporting this feminist rather dim narrow-minded little old ex-schoolmarm who does for Home Secretary these days among Loser's cabinet of pygmies.
Like all the rest of her hapless colleagues, she is totally out of her depth and floundering in a job that is just too big for her little brain to cope with.

By ROGER. Posted November 30 2008 at 10:37 AM.

What a sad women JOKIE Smith is . What next ban everything thats fun?

By clive. Posted November 30 2008 at 9:09 AM.

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