GREATER Manchester's top cop today supported calls from Parliament to crackdown on cheap booze.
Chief Constable Peter Fahy echoed conclusions of a group of MPs who called for a ban on "happy hour" drink promotions. Supermarkets should also be prevented by law from selling alcohol at a loss to encourage people into their stores, said the MPs.
Citing research that showed the real price of alcohol has fallen dramatically, the Home Affairs Select Committee urged ministers to clamp down on irresponsible bars and pubs. They found the "whole focus" of police resources was in targeting booze-fuelled and football violence, meaning officers were "hitting their targets but missing the point".
Last year Mr Fahy, when he was chief constable of Cheshire Police, called for the legal age limit for drinking alcohol to be raised to 21 following the booze-fuelled murder of Garry Newlove outside his home in Warrington. He also pointed to the availability of cheap alcohol.
Today Mr Fahy told the MEN that he supported the calls made by the Home Affairs select committee and repeated his concern about the availability and price of alcohol. He said: "All I can say as chief constable is that a large part of our work is dealing with alcohol abuse and misuse and the anti-social behaviour which is made worse by alcohol.
Burden
"The suggestions by the select committee would make a big difference to the burden on the police and allow us to concentrate on other things like drugs, burglary and robbery. It would also make people believe their streets are safer.
"We can put more police out there at night but the big question is 'is that a good use of our time to reduce the impact of our alcohol culture when we could be doing other things?'" He suggested splitting the duty on alcohol so weaker alcohol is taxed less and stronger alcohol is taxed more.
"What we will unfortunately find is that European law will not allow it," he added. He continued: "There's this weakness in British culture where we drink to get drunk and get more aggressive. If you have that culture, it's not wise to make drink more available."
He added: "It's not just about price alone. You have to look at the whole culture and the way alcohol is marketed. It's a whole range of issues but price is certainly a key one.
"A lot of our neighbourhood officers are having to deal with kids on street corners. You don't tend to see them (the neighbourhood officers) around during the day because they are out dealing with these problems.
Issues
"A lot of the assaults we see in the city centre are made worse by the amount of alcohol people are drinking. We also see a lot of problems with drinking at home. When people have been drinking, they are more aggressive and react to challenge in a different way. If we didn't have these problems in our country, we would be able to concentrate a lot more or our resources into crime and other issues."
Earlier, the chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, Keith Vaz, said: "We cannot have on one hand a world of alcohol promotions for profit that fuels surges of crime and disorder, and on the other the police diverting all their resources to cope with it."
He also called for previously voluntary codes of conduct for the drinks industry to be legally enforceable.
Last week a senior officer said police did not need new powers to tackle errant licencees. Simon O'Brien, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) on pubs and clubs, said those selling drink irresponsibly were a "minority".
Ministers are reportedly considering a compulsory code for pubs and bars that would outlaw discounts and happy hours.The rules could also ensure cut price offers extend to soft drinks, and put cigarette-style health warnings on alcohol. The report also called for police to be given electronic notebooks to speed up the recording of crime. Officers could then file reports without having to return to the station, the MPs said.
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Mad Angela, St George's, Hulme , (10/11/2008 at 10:50)
Jay B, oldham (10/11/2008 at 10:52)
i havent seen a happy hour promotion for years now!
Manchester by Day (10/11/2008 at 11:14)
Ace Shakespeare , manchester (10/11/2008 at 11:23)
MikeC25 (10/11/2008 at 11:33)
Hamish Macbeth, Whitefield (10/11/2008 at 11:57)
Errr - this is a positive solution and reasonable idea.
The Government downgraded cannabis and then wonder why kids are running around everywhere stones, they liberalised licensing laws and then wonder why they have such alcohol fueled disorder .... mmm there seems to be a pattern here ....when the Government liberalise things - it gets out of control....
I wonder if the MPs bar at the House of Parliament will stop dupply subsidised drinks ???
Last Pint of Holts, Middleton Manchester (10/11/2008 at 12:10)
Why ban happy hours and supermarkets because of the drinking habits of idiots?
Clamp down on idiots and clamp down on 'corner shops' who dont care who they sell it too!
The Seeker, Eccles (10/11/2008 at 12:26)
MikeC25 (10/11/2008 at 12:40)
Black Flag (10/11/2008 at 12:43)
The government did liberalise licencing laws, but it didn't make alcohol fuelled disorder worse, in spite of what all the authoritarian doom-mongers were hoping for, although it doesn't stop them trying to claim it did.
Mike, Manchester (10/11/2008 at 12:51)
Good point too about the skunk - watch out for a generation of 20-30 year olds who will never know what day it is and suffer mental problems for years. Cared for by you-know-who obviously.
thaitanium (10/11/2008 at 12:56)
While he is at it what's the chance of the taxpayer subsidised bars in the Houses of Parlaiment closed down, thought so no chance.
Mark,Radcliffe. (10/11/2008 at 13:03)
adders, Co.Cavan ex Manchester (10/11/2008 at 13:06)
Price increases and bans are NOT the answer.
Prohibition in the States should be a lasting reminder that blanket bans and curbs just create a criminal market.
Kids and drink abusers will find the money needed whatever the price is, often turning to stealing to do so, just like some drug addicts do.
Pubs are already disappearing at an alarming rate thanks to the obscene level of taxation in the U.K. and also here in Ireland.Our nearest pub here is three miles away so having a drink at home is our alternative.
Once again, those who should know better are seeking to penalise the decent majority because of the law-breaking minority.
Better controls and policing need to be adopted NOT the usual sledgehammer- to- crack- a- nut cop-out (no pun intended) policies like this.
Ace Shakespeare , manchester (10/11/2008 at 13:06)
Sick of this Government, MADchester (10/11/2008 at 13:13)
David,North M/C (10/11/2008 at 13:14)
MikeC25 (10/11/2008 at 13:16)
MikeC25 (10/11/2008 at 13:19)
Black Flag (10/11/2008 at 13:27)
It seems we can both be relied upon.
The Seeker, Eccles (10/11/2008 at 13:30)
David,North M/C,
This is very true, and precisely why alcohol has to be tightly controlled in Britain. Close down all off licences. Ban supermarket booze. The only place allowed to sell alcohol should be the pubs and night clubs - at reasonable prices.
Technobabble, Manchester (10/11/2008 at 13:32)
This is the same Chief Constable who, in his previous job in Cheshire and in response to the murder of Gary Newlove, called for the drinking age to be increased to 21. Never mind that one of the thugs who killed Mr Newlove had JUST been released from a court AND banned from Warrington!
Changing the drinking age to 21 would be an insult to every law-abiding, tax-paying ADULT, because that's what you are at 18; you can marry, vote, and for some go off an die in a foreign land for your country.
As for so-called "cheap booze", who decides what consistutes "cheap booze"? Be very wary of handing that kind of authority over to local councils and pseudo-politicans like Chief Constables, or soon that nice little deal that the supermarket was offering, that you were planning to use when stocking up for Christmas in this economic climate, will suddenly become a thing of the past. And the young morons will still be roaming the streets looking for kicks.
MikeC25 (10/11/2008 at 13:46)
Black Flag (10/11/2008 at 13:50)
Do you not think that kind of attitude might be part of what creates the British mentality towards alcohol? In places like France, where alcohol tends to be introduced gradually within the family, the outcome tends to be better.
I really don't see what benefit you expect to get from criminalising the sale of a bottle of wine to somebody who wants to drink at home with their evening meal. Surely those people tend to cause fewer problems than those drinking in pubs and clubs.
What approach would you take to homebrewers?
Hamish Macbeth, Whitefield (10/11/2008 at 14:01)
Build some more prisons and imprison people rather than give wishy washy "suspended sentences" and the like for alcohol fuelled disorder.
Expel unruly pupils from school rather than pander to them and allow them back in.
Enforce discipline - rather than act as apologist for offenders actions and blame it on others etc etc.
When cannabis was downgraded the kids thought it was legal to smoke the skunk rubbish !!
Licensing laws have been liberalised - and we have this same problem - everyone thinks it's ok to get hammered!!
Go like America - ban the possession of uncovered alcohol in public - stop drinking in the street (it doesn't look right) - stop the possession of alcohol in vehicles except in trunk/boot etc. Fine people for this.
Reduce licensing hours to remove the 24hr availability of the stuff - no sales in Supermarkets and Offies to anyone under 21 ( id shown!).
Stop the MPs having subsidised bars at taxpayers expense.
These ways restrict the anti-social use - but allow the vast majority of people who work all day and like a drink at night to have a pint - even after 11pm !