Drunk at the wheel of power!

[observer]

In a Country with an historic culture of drinking to get drunk; we have a Government with the laudable but ill conceived middle-class notion that we can develope a responsible, civilised culture of drinking like our "cafe cultured" Euro neighbours. SO, they extended the hours of opening for pubs/clubs, failing of course to observe, that many folk can't afford to drink all night and many just throw it down their knecks in the shortest time possible - thus merely moving the problem of drunks to the early hours of the morning. Then, in their usual unco-ordinated way, they banned smoking in pubs/clubs, thus ensuring that custom would radically reduce, prompting the drinks industry to try to entice folk out, with happy hours and other offers. NOW, with over 800,000 drink related cases (and rising) putting pressures on the NHS, they've now fallen out with the drinks industry and are threatening them with even more new laws. One fairly obvious measure will be to increase taxation on alchohol; on the simple premise that you tax bad things and subsidise good things. However, perhaps they may review their previous legislation, which derived from this same problem prior to WW1 and reintroduce the previous closing times. Thus we have a Government going round and round in circles, like a dog chasing it's tail!

[Bazj]

Agreed.

 

However I would like to know why; if we are so intent on joining Europe with all its supposed benefits, why do the benefits of cheap fags, booze and fuel only benefit the rest of Europe and not us?

 

This government seems to be on a mission to destroy the licensed trade by the fag ban, duty hikes and opening hours messing.

 

If they really wanted to help the industry they should stop supermarkets selling cheap booze, stop people bringing in duty paid fags and booze too. Unfortunately that would upset our European masters.... and we couln't have that could we?

 

The French shot collaborators after the war..... can we do the same after the next election I wonder?

[Legion]

The government should wake up to the fact that this country is inhabbited by generaly two types of people, those that are honest and law abiding and those that are not.

 

the honest and law abiding can go out to pubs, get leathered, smoke, drive sensibly, have parties at home, keep animals, argue with their loved ones and do all the things that could cause a nuissance to others....but with enough respect for others that they can do it without becoming a nuissance without feeling the need to carry a knife, without the need to hit somone, witout too much noise in the middle of the night without chucking their litter in the street or intimidating the weak.

 

Then theres the others who it seems cannot concieve the idea of respect for others.

 

and no matter how many laws you pass to try to restrict the idiots, they will remain idiots and the only ones that realy suffer are the law abiding citizens who are having their freedoms erradicated. meanwhile the idiots break the new laws with such vigor that the punnishment system cannot cope as such they get no punnishment.

[Peter T]

Brilliant post.

[Mary]

and no matter how many laws you pass to try to restrict the idiots, they will remain idiots and the only ones that realy suffer are the law abiding citizens who are having their freedoms erradicated. meanwhile the idiots break the new laws with such vigor that the punnishment system cannot cope as such they get no punnishment.

 

Yes - you are correct Peter - brilliant post!!

[Jerry]

Hear, hear!