Labour Back Sensible Drinking Plans

The Government in Westminster is taking onboard some of the more sensible and enforceable plans from the SNP's drink policy* on in England and Wales.

In order to take on the problem of drink fuelled disorder they are looking at banning pub happy hours and ensuring that supermarkets do not sell alcohol as a loss leader. They said that the biggest problem faced by police forces was violence and disorder caused by excessive drinking of cheap alcohol. SNP please note this is not an age dependent issue.

The report also claims that increased police powers to tackle drunkenness were not working and powers to review or revoke premises' alcohol licences were not being fully used. This was emphasised last week when one sheriff overruled a decision by one Scottish council to revoke one off-licence owner's licence having been found on three occasions to sell to underage drinkers. If council licensing boards are unable to control this power at present without judges claiming that they are restricting trade how does the SNP ever hope top enforce the law with a different criteria.

*These are also some of the points highlighted in the recently passed Scottish Liberal Democrats policy countering the SNP's plans.