Two big stories around alcohol catch my eye, one about the findings (and actions that’ll follow) the government’s review of the licensing laws, the other a survey of parents which is being used to launch a book by Jacqueline Wilson.
Gordon Brown exclusive: Any shop twice caught selling alcohol to U18s should lose its licence | The Mirror
Off-licences which sell booze to under-18s will be shut down to tackle the binge drinking plague.
Gordon Brown promised to strip shopkeepers of their licence if they are twice caught flogging youngsters beer.
He ordered a cheap booze crackdown and pledged health ads. The PM said: “Binge drinking is unacceptable.”
Blitz on underage booze sellers | The Metro
Mr Brown emphasised the need to deal with off-licences which sold alcohol to under 18s as one of the keys to tackling the problems of binge drinking.
“If someone is selling to under-18s they are allowing these problems of binge drinking to grow – and they are giving young people the worst possible start in life,” he said.
Under current rules, shops have to be caught selling alcohol three times in three months before facing the possibility of losing their licence. However, Mr Brown said that the penalties needed tightening.
While one sale to an under-18 may be an innocent mistake by a shopkeeper, the law should no longer accept a second offence, he said.
Supermarket alcohol price ‘fix’ to curb binge drinkers | The Guardian:
The Home Office will announce measures to fight binge drinking next week when it publishes a review of the impact of the relaxation of licensing laws.
It will say that the easing of restrictions has not had a dramatic impact on levels of crime and disorder, but it will propose increased fines on shops that continue to sell alcohol to underage drinkers, as well as urge supermarkets to undertake more rigid checks at tills. The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has already given police new powers to stop the consumption of alcohol in public.
PM’s blitz on under age booze | Channel 4
Rogue off-licences caught selling alcohol to under age youngsters more than once will be shut down, Gordon Brown has warned.
The Prime Minister said that a new “two strikes and you’re out” rule would form part of the Government’s Review of the Licensing Act to be published this week.
Covered on The BBC and Daily Mail.
Young people in need of stricter parenting, says the teenagers’ champion | The Times
A poll conducted by ICM to coincide with the publication of Dame Jacqueline’s new book found that 71 per cent of parents allowed their children to drink alcohol at home before they were 18, while 45 per cent allowed 16-year-olds to spend the night at their boyfriend or girlfriend’s house.
Among children aged 16 and under, 53 per cent are allowed to stay out later than 11pm, while 35 per cent of girls aged 12 and under have been allowed to pierce their ears. Half of the girls surveyed are permitted to dye their hair and wear make-up by the age of 14 and 55 per cent of parents believe childhood ends at 11.
Childhood now ends at 11, parents say | The Daily Telegraph
Almost three-quarters of parents allow their children to drink alcohol at home before they turn 18, and although Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, 45 per cent of parents permit their 16-year-old children to spend the night at a boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s house.
More than half of children aged 16 and under are allowed to stay out past 11pm, and half are permitted to dye their hair and wear make-up by the time they are 14.
Some 57 per cent of children are allowed to watch 18-certificate films before the age of 18, compared to 46 per cent a generation ago.
Author says children are growing up too quickly – Rueters
She [Wilson] urged parents to be stubborn in not giving in to their children’s unreasonable demands.
“Parents need to take a stand, to tell their children ‘I don’t care if everyone else in the class is allowed to do this or that. You’re not,’” she said.
“No one wants a confrontation but adolescence is a tricky time and it is the nature of the beast that teenagers are a bit stroppy. You just have to accept that.”
Also on The BBC and The Independent.
Filed under: alcohol , Jacqueline Wilson, licensing act
