MP's are calling for pub happy hours to be banned, and supermarkets stopped from selling alcohol at a loss, in order to combat drink fuelled disorder. They want to set a minimum price on alcohol.
The Home Affairs Select Committee states that reckless drinking places a heavy burden on police resources.
A major problem for the police is violence and disorder, fuelled by the excessive drinking of cheap alcohol.
It seems that the increased power to tackle drunkedness, is not working, and the power to review premises selling alcohol were not being fully used.
Now for some shocking statistics. A child under the age of 10, is treated for alcohol related problems, every 3 days. A total of 648 under 10's were hospitalised with alcohol related problems between 2002-2007. Among the under 16's that figure rose to 24,000.
12,000, 16-17 year olds were admitted to a hospitals A&E, after drinking too much.
My question to you, is, what do we do to tackle this problem. Many youngster's, simply do not realise the damage they are doing, by consuming such quantities of alcohol. Some do, but do it, to be in with the crowd. Should parents allow their kids to consume small amounts of alcohol at home?
If you have ever been upto Hanley, for a meal or to visit the theatre, it's there for all to see, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. Young men and women, staggering all over the place, and that's only early on in the night. It must be a total nightmare for the bar staff, bouncers, police and taxi drivers. This is happening in all the Cities, and very often, this drinking results in arguing, and fighting. End result, these people are taken to the A&E, putting more and more of a strain on that department. Its a knock on affect isn't it.
So, what programmes do they put on our TV, yes, Booze Britain. This just encourages it doesn't it. Yes, actually filming how many shots, pints, bottles of vodka, you name it, then can drink in a night. Are these programmes supposed to discourage people?
Is it right to sell alcohol so cheap? Its not just the likes of Bargain Booze, the supermarkets do it too. The problem is, if you make it dearer, you are penalising the sensible drinkers. Is that really fair? What should be done?
Give us your thoughts.
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43 comments:
Against all advice, the morons of the Labour party go against public opinion and bring in 24 hour drinking. Problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption immediately accelerate to a point where numerous police forces say if it continues, they will not be able to cope.
Surprise surprise, Labour come up with an idea on how to reduce the damage inflicted on society by their own mental policy?!!
Confused? You will be when Labours spin machine kicks in.
This kind of maneuvre has a special name, it's called an
Hegelian dialectic. Look it up, and start to wake up to what's going on around you.
No, its not right at all, happy hours or selling for less then cost price. I have been saying for years that a minimum price sould be set on alcohol, very much the same as fags. The main supermarkets all jump up and down a make a big thing about it but when push comes to shove they are the worst ones for it.
Tesco at the begining of the year came out with ' yes, we know we are doing it, but it would not be good bussness not to, cos the others are doing it, we dont want to, honnest.' Its, and parden my Freanch, old bollocks, and if anyone saw my post on the NHS on Friday, work it out, I sould know.
The price of beer, wine and spirts in Tesco stores are about the only thing to go down in the last few mouths, and it keeps going down, you may have joked a yaer ago its a cheep as botteled water, well gess what now, its cheeper then botteled water, its a fact, go and price it up.But its not only Tesco, the other buggers are just as bad, in fact Asda are worse, your Bargain Booze are two. Now even the smaller independeant off-sails are catching up and slashing there price to. This goes to, as nita so rightly states, public violence and disorder, and not just a bit of it at last orders or thowing out time, its all the time, anytime of the day, from around midday onwords you get it on the streets, drunk as little lords they are, staggering round all over the place. you think I'm jokeing, takeing it a bit to far, open your eyes and go to any town center, you will see it, every day of the week.
Ofcourse it not just the policeing of this thats a problem, NHS figgers on the real health cost of drinking are indeed truly shocking, as nita points out again. It cost money and a lot more importantly it costs lives, sometimes young lives, and not thuoght dinking, but becouse of it, kids being killed in car smashes becouse someone thought he/she could hanndel it.
So whats to be done, first may I say that any idea of makeing the legal drinking age 21 is the daftest thing I have ever heard. How can you legaley vote, drive a car, own your own home, have sex, and indeed fight and die for your country without haveing the right to have a beer. That said what can we do.
Fix the price of all alcohol, stoping the cut price foolisness,this will hopefuly push the price to a level that the under 18s will not be able to afford.
Look at the licencing laws, the real problems began after the droping of the old licening laws and closeing times.
You read time and time again that someone as put in for a licances to sell alcohol as they want to run a shop round such and such an area, why not just open the bloody shop, the purpuse of that shop would be to sell food, sweets, newspapers that sort of thing, it dont need to start floging beer as well.
I dont drink alcohol now, I can't, but belive you me, I dont want to stop anyone drinking,as long as you are 18+, and there are times when a could kill for a J.D. and Coke, its not the drinking I object to, its silly folk who dont know when to stop, let there kids guts it back claming they did not know, and indeed smash there own life in to and lots of others while they are at it.
Being drunk in public use to be fround upon when I was growing up, now it seems common place, it seems to be a right, or so some fools think, I'm I the only one who will stand up and say its not on, I dont think so, not round hear. When someones is arested for it what happens, Some hot shot defence beraster will stand there and say ' well my lord, mr/mrs/miss whatshisface, well theyve had a problem with the beer for years, and they are makeing efforts to stop, I now they sade that the last time they came infrount of this court, and they did try but there goldfish died and they went on a bender.' and the the court will let them off with dont do it again. Ban them from haveing the stuff someway, bust there ass with a massive fine, lock them up, anything to tell them there actions were not right and not to do it again.
Dont for god sake get me started on drink driveing for a bit becouse you would have a longer peace to go thought littered with bad spelling, grammer, dreadfull jokes and some of the foulish words you could think about.
Well, I was going to comment, but brooneyes, and Warren have made all the valid points, in a nutshell, well said lads.
Warrens Translater, Translate that one pal...lol
Ok so we set a minimum cost for alcohol..
Who is going to get the difference between the price of a pint today and then the 'fixed' price tomorrow?
Hmmmmmm
The Brewer? Nah, they sell at a price and make a profit anyway.
The retailer? Maybe but unlikely
The Government? More than likely...
What are they going to do with all that money? Use it to deal with people who drink? Well working on their theory that increasing and fixing a minimum price will stop the drinking works, then they won't need to will they? So well done another tax on people like me who just want to go out and have 3 or 4 pints...
Stop taxiing us at every opportunity and deal with the culture of drinking. It won't change overnight..
Craig
24 hour licensing has not brought in 24 hour drinking.
Premises still have to be licensed, for hours "within" the 24 hour period.
The only premises with 4am closures, in the City of Stoke-on-Trent, are clubs and pubs mainly in Hanley.
Most pubs just had their closing hours extended slightly,till 00:30 hrs or 01:00 hrs Friday/Saturdays, which is similar to the old weekend party extensions.
Most off-licenses/newsagents, sell at similar hours into the evening, as they did before. The change there is that many can sell alcohol much earlier in the morning.
Alcohol licensed premises also have to have a person in charge who is a Personal License Holder.
Both licenses can be reviewed by the Councils Licensing Committee, which can alter the hours/conditions on the license, or even close the premise.
Some off-licenses in the South of the city, a few months ago, had some severe restrictions placed on them, and on hearing this, most other off-licenses have upped their game.
For interest, Hot Food Take-aways, besides planning permission, if they wish to trade after 11pm, or before 5am, have to have the same license, which can be reviewed in the same way.
If any person has complaints about a premise, just contact the councils licensing section based at Hanley Town Hall, or via tel,234234.
Anyone who lives/works/has a business in the vicinity of a premise, can ask for a review of its licenses.
I also agree that alcohol in shops is far too cheap.
This has been affecting the pub trade for some time.
I wonder if its some plan of the brewers to just move into easy ways of selling, rather than working with all these small businesses, and all the admin and staffing at the companies expense.
It must be a simple business to manufacture, pack ,ship and sell, rather than maintain all these pubs...
Warrens Translator,
If you are happy to keep posting the I'm more than happy to keep deleting! You've made your point, now let's move on.
Tony, I know it may seem that I am taking the piss out of Warren but honestly, I cannot understand half of what Warren writes.
There must be others too, which is a shame because when his words are translated and become understandable, he actually has something decent to say.
Pubs, clubs and official off licenses should be the only places where drink is available. It's all well and good supermarkets banging it out cheaper than anyone else, but like I'm always being told, there are responsibilities with freedom. It's high time the supermarkets are restricted to what alcohol they can sell, with the aim being that those that want a drink go to the pub or club, afterall, that's their purpose in life. The purpose of a supermarket seems to be profits first, second, and last, and it time we stood up to them and stopped them from destroying our towns and cities.
Of course, you won't find anyone on the council to even look at this, besides the BNP that is.
The other problem is that far too many of these corner shops have been issued licenses to sell alcohol. It's funny how the asians don't complain about handling alcohol when the profits from its sale go into their pockets.......
I've got to hand it to you Craig. It takes some skill to blame non-whites for absolutely everything, yet you manage to do it again. Well done!
Comment deleted - how come you don't understand half of what Warren writes, but you seem to manage to translate it when you want to take the pee?
Warren is free to comment on this site without being subjected to ridicule from the likes of you.
As Tony says, you keep posting as Warren's translator, we'll keep deleting your comments.
Think up something original, have an opinion for pity's sake, and stop taking the pee out of others.
If you have something constructive to say, some issue to debate, some burning topic you are just desperate to discuss - then this is the site for you.
If not, get lost.
That's it though, Alison, I genuinely cannot understand half of Warren's posts without using the spell check. Even then it's very hard and I have to use guess work.
Like I stated previously, it's a shame really because Warren actually has some good points.
Comment Deleted. You appear to be pretty genuine, when you make your comments, but lighten up on Warren, he is actually dyslexic.
He has posted many times on the Sentinel web, and has suffered abuse for his spelling on there. I'll give him credit, he doesn't let it bother him.
Its all about giving opinions on here, not about how you write it, or spell it.
I feel ashamed now, I have took it too far.
Warren, I want to make a whole hearted apology, SORRY!
If you think about it, if alcoholic drinks didn't exist and were invented now, they would be immediately banned for having extremely bad effects on the body. We'd all be better off without it for all sorts of health, crime and social order reasons.
"Should parents allow their kids to consume small amounts of alcohol at home?" An odd question. Well no, you wouldn't promote something that is not good for them would you? Instead you give them the facts about how bad it is for health and all the things that can happen if you drink too much, or even a little if you are not used to it. Then you advise them not to drink even when they are old enough, but if they feel they must, stick to as little as possible.
Craig and Warren, you've made some great points there. Warren I just loved your long rant. A particularly important point you make is that being drunk used to be frowned upon, but now it just seems cool. Plus for some enjoying themselves seems to mean getting drunk. That's wrong, it's actually much more fun being sober in my view. No point having fun if your senses are impaired and your brain isn't working and you can't remember much afterwards. I agree with you it is just not on getting awfully drunk and causing trouble in public, but how to explain to people I'm not sure. Maybe film them and play it back after they sober up and ask if they really want to get into that state again. I'm not sure I believe that booze is cheaper than bottled water. Water is only 16p a 2 litre bottle in Tesco. Have to admit I don't know how much booze is though. I just had to laugh about the goldfish dying (poor goldfish). Trouble is it's probably not that funny as they probably do get let off far too easily.
Sir findo, if the government gets more alcohol tax it will not make the slightest dent in the phenomenal national debt they are running up for our kids to pay in taxes over many years to come. Deal with the drink culture though I agree.
Anonymous, don't take my word for it, check and see who the cornershop owners are that keep applying for liquor licenses.
As if by magic.........
http://express.lineone.net/posts/view/70340/Police-crisis-over-alcohol-and-migrants
Sir Findo... it would not be a tax as such, it would simpley fix the price, at a level that is good, to provent retailers useing alcohol as a loss leader. It would force the retailers to sell the stuff at more like pub price. Why do you think the pubs are doing so badly of late, folks are geting the stuff from the shops and drinking at home, but yes happy hour must be stoped in pubs, and dives like Witherspoons and others like then floging it over the bar at the price they do.
Now onto Joy, and yes yes I know you are on the council as well. One comment that I did pick out on in your post, pub closing hours extended slightly to half past midnight or One in the morning at weekends, the same as a party extention. No its not , a party extention had to be apliyed for, for each extention, and there was a chance for folks to challange the extention , and indeed meny were turned down.Do you belive its right, drinking being alowed at this time of night every weekend then, to drink untill that time of night or morning as the case may be, I for one dont, I fimly belive that a return to 22.30 in the week and 23.00 at weekends is called for, it worked for meny years.
While we are at it Joy, maybe you could give me a reponce on the reasoning that every shop opening round hear now puts in for the peperwork to sell beer, its not that inportant that it sould sell it anyway, a small shop sould sell everyday things, cans of beans, bog rolls, milk, bread, that kind of thing, not cans of beer to the local kids and drukards. Is'nt that what they are for, not to encorage drunkenness.
Nice one there brooneyes, someones race crowbared in there again, but I have to say that is a point. No, the muslims aret moneing about it as it flys into there till draw, and why the hell sould they.
how can the BNP protest 24 hr drinking when most of them are drunken yobs themselves, just take ex-Cuncillor Luke Smith from Burnley. Why did he stand down? For behaving like a drunken yob!!!
At least he wasn't a child sex offender like Wanger, or a dog killing Labour d*ck like Shotton.
Take a look at liarsbuggersandthieves. blogspot if you want to see some real criminal behaviour. But of course, you won't, there are no child molesting, animal killing, moneygrabbing, electoral fraudsters in the BNP!
No, your right Brooneyes, the BNP just have convicted race hate terrorists such as Tony Lecomber, David Copeland, Robert Cottage and Lambertus Nieuwhof!
All those people were out of the party years ago, sad act!
If you're going to have a go at us,
get some new material moron!
Nice bit of spin there Brooneyes.
Many of those aren't currently in the BNP because they are in prison, you ant be a member if your in jail!
What of Tony Lecomber though, who was deputy leader until last year and only kicked out for things unrelated to his terrorist activities.
What of White South African Lambertus Nieuwhof immigrant who is STILL a member and in fact a regional organiser. For peoples information this person planted a bomb in a mixed raced school intending to kill innocent children. The BNP see him fit to not only be a member but a Regional Organiser AND current BNP website designer!
And not forgeting that the BNP leader is a person who clams to be a master of history and then turns round a denises that the Holacost ever happend. What did he call it, a Zionest sham, the killing and suferring of millons, a sham, yer! right. No, at times the BNP makes sense to me, then I think about who leads them and what that fool said and, no they dont, not at all, not if some fool like Nick Griffen holds any kind of power there.
Oh you do talk b*llocks!
Craig, tell me why its that mate, I'v not got to meny problems with what you have to say at times, you know that. I have got a massive problem with your partys leadership, what's that tell you. It talls me some thing is amiss in your party at the very top, and as long as he and his mates are there, you will never move any more forword then what you are now.
Warren, what bothers me is that Nick said some things that he has admitted were stupid.Brown and Blair took us into two illegal wars that have cost hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.
Who does the press and the left target all the time, the guy that once said something stupid.
And let's face it, if saying something stupid was a crime, we'd all be in gaol, especially Elsby!
Seems to me that people like yourself need to get your priorities right and attack those that stand in the way of this country, not those who are trying to save this country.
What illegal wars?
Craig, we know the BNP would never take a war to a foreign Country, your policy on these issues are on the racist website.
Funny isn't it that Oswald Moseley said the same when Hitler was building gas chambers.
Seeing as I didn't know Mosley, and my family fought against Hitler, I wouldn't know.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
that's which illegal wars!
The BNP's stance on these things is that we would take a position of armed neutrality, only engaging
in conflict when British interests
were at stake, and not as some spineless favour for an American retard!
Warren, Setting a minimum price for alcohol is exactly the same as a tax as the money will go to the government..
Setting a minimum price, is that not what is commonly known as price fixing?....
Hmmmmm if I were to do that with other businesses who provide the same services as me, I would be in court quicker than...
Nicky, no it won't even scrape the surface..
Sir Findo.
We don't need to fix the price, just limit the number of outlets where booze is available.
Freedom of choice, no-one is forced to drink. If the drink's cheap and people chose to get drunk then its a problem with culture and lack of willpower. Whose culture may I add, the very culture that the BNP are frightened will engulfed with unwashed foreigners. They seem to think they can have it both ways.
Warren,
Most pubs applied for party extentions most weekends.
Just because the license allows them to open till 00:30hrs or 01:00hrs does not mean that they have to. Its an option, so that they don't have to keep applying for special events licenses.
And when could anyone other than a majistrate have objected to the old 'extentions ?? You could not.
If you have a problem with a licensed premises near to you, call the Councils Licensing section via 01782-234234.
Get the license reviewed...
As for corner shops and beer sales, read st georges post, which is straight after my first one on this site. I think he is on to something there !!
By limiting the number of outlets what Craig means is closing down all the Asian retailers.
Anonymous.
There can't be that many asians
who retail booze, handling it is against their religion.
Asians?
Don't you mean Muslims?
It's not against Sikhism & Hinduism.
"The other problem is that far too many of these corner shops have been issued licenses to sell alcohol. It's funny how the asians don't complain about handling alcohol when the profits from its sale go into their pockets......."
Brooneyes 10/11/08 18:12
"Anonymous.There can't be that many asians who retail booze, handling it is against their religion."
Brooneyes 13/11/08 17:47
So which is it? There are too many Asians selling cheap booze or there aren't? Got to hand it to you Brooneyes, you can certainly contradict yourself.
Simple solution.
Use the laws that we have and enforce them.
Why should I suffer higher prices when i drink responsibly.
Young'uns have always drunk, as I did myself. The difference then is that there was no Political Correctness stopping the authorities from doing their jobs.
We have become week in the ability to rule our country because of vested interests in turning this country into a totalitarian state, and this is just another nail in the coffin.
Martin the retard.
It's a style of humour known as sarcasm as you very well know. If you're going to try and make points, make them worthwhile.
Craig and Joy, thank you both for your responses.
Craig, yes it was a very stupid thing to say, infact it was for more silly then anything that Brown or Blair have ever said, and I'm no fan of them.
Joy, while your responce ansewrs meny of my ponits, a major question remains, a shop dont need a lisance to sell beer to do bissness, just to sell beer,so why give then the licance, encorage them to trade without, in a clean swep, cuting places where drink can be got. Come to think of it, this may cut the underage drinking, a lot of these little offys dont care whos got the beer, as long as they have there money.
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