New Labour's 24-hour drinking laws have left Britain 'awash' with cheap alcohol and plagued by late night violence, experts warned last night.
Home Office figures reveal there are now a record number of trouble hotspots – with 208 neighbourhoods officially classified as being 'saturated' with problem pubs or bars.
To the fury of medical experts, there is also a record number of supermarkets, petrol stations and convenience stores selling booze around the clock – fuelling harmful drinking.
But, lest we forget...
The Daily Mail, 4 September 2014:
Britons have dramatically reduced how much they drink, cutting back over the last decade by the equivalent of 110 glasses of wine a year or 73 pints of beer.
Drinking – at home as well as in pubs and clubs – has fallen by some 18 per cent since a peak in 2004, against a background of rising prices driven by inflation-busting increases in tax and duty, according to industry figures.
The fall calls into question the image of Britons as a nation of heavy drinkers and lager louts.
And...
The Daily Mail, 24 April 2013:
Violent crime in Britain has fallen by a quarter in the past decade, according to a study.
The UK has experienced a ‘substantial and sustained’ fall in offences ranging from drunken thuggery to murder since 2003, the report suggests.The Daily Mail's ongoing crusade against the Licensing Act is almost heroic in its utter disregard for the facts. Every single prediction it made ten years ago has been shown to be false. Yes, there are more places to buy alcohol than there used to be, but violent crime has fallen, alcohol consumption has fallen and thousands of pubs have closed.
Never mind the evidence though, eh? In a few days time the Mail will send its photographers out for its annual fish-in-a-barrel photo shoot of people being drunk on New Year's Eve. See?! It's Binge Britain!
1 comment:
I think the Mail's main gripe is that these licensing changes were made by "New Labour". And how long before the next sentimental, elephant-ignoring piece about the decline of the traditional pub?
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