Westminster Diary - 3rd November 2005

Thursday, 3rd November 2005

Later this month, the new Licensing Laws take effect. The new regime makes 24 hour drinking a possibility, though I am pleased to say that I am not aware of any pub or club in the area I represent which proposes to take advantage of it. What has happened is that several pubs have asked for and been given extensions to their opening hours to midnight or later, meaning that intensive policing of the town centre will be necessary for more of the night. This has a knock-on effect on the availability of police resources in rural areas, which is a problem now on Friday and Saturday nights. One aspect of this I find most incomprehensible is listening to the Government warn of the obvious connection between excessive drinking and disorder and between excessive drinking and health problems and then watching the same government promote opportunities for yet more excessive drinking.

Over the last 2 weeks, I have sat on a Committee discussing the Governments proposed Violent Crime Reduction Bill which, among other things, makes provision for spreading the cost of policing areas of alcohol-related disorder to the licensed premises which operate within it. Would it not be sensible to avoid lengthening the period during which such policing is necessary?

Even crazier are the new rules on licence applications, now decided by local authorities, not magistrate’s courts. Applications are granted automatically unless an objection is made and registering an objection is not easy. Only residents who live in the immediate vicinity of a pub or club may do so, and your Councillor can’t do it on your behalf because by representing the ward in which the pub stands, he or she has a ‘prejudicial interest’.

Only this week, we heard about possible government proposals to ban drinking on public transport. I have no argument with the government that drink-fuelled loutish behaviour is a real problem causing genuine misery to many and I welcome proposals to improve the situation. I simply think that the Government should also avoid measures, like the new licensing rules, which will make the situation worse.

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Updated on Thursday, 3rd November 2005