Is it right to impose a minimum price for alcohol?

[ivor43]

steve, i totally agree. i remember the closing time changing from10.30 to 11.0pm people just came out later.they did'nt spend more money. i have never understood the need for '' 24 hours '' opening. unless it is greed on behalf of the breweries and government for higher profits and tax. i believe that for a start alcohol should only be sold,as it used to be, in off licences, not every little corner shop, then customer age could be checked more easily, and ,as i said before, a toughening of the law.

[Gwyn Nicholas]

The Law is an ASS! The problems we have today is nothing to do with the price of booze or opening hours, it is about the abuse of alcohol and the inability of the Law to sort it out. Our pubs have cut back their hours, the nightclubs have closed which has stopped the out of town scum coming here, but the young are still boozing in the open. Teenagers happily walking down the road swigging a can of cider/lager, throwing the can wherever they finish it. Do they care ..no...why... because if caught, the copper will simply take the can off them end of story - move on - next can no problem. We could not get away with that in the late sixties /early seventies without ending up in front of the "beak" (magistrate) so what has changed.

Sad thing is, the majority suffer once again because of a mindless minority an outdated justice system and spineless politicians. It grieves me to say this as I am a big fan of our boys in blue, but some of them are turning a blind eye far too often for my liking. Whether it is because they are overstretched or just frustrated with the justice system, who knows but it all adds up.

So if you cant fix the problem, at least make some money out of it seems to be the way of this Co-attrition Government.

[steve carey]

The crown prosecution only go for can wins and getting costs, But the problem on the streets is all about supply and demand, Think about it.

[ivor43]

as a cop in the late 60's we had full ''powers of discresion '' this meant we could deal with a situation as we saw fit. if i thought the best way to deal with a situation was to give a verbal warning it did'nt go in the book. but these powers were, i believe, removed some years ago so everything had to go on the book. i can assure you that we had ample paperwork but we usualy were given time,on nights (0200- 0600) to do it. i feel very sorry for the modern cop because this must be a nightmare.
in my time the court system was not good and i dont think it has improved any over the years. i believe that there must be a much stronger 'lower court ' system possibly with a legal professional on the bench with the lay magistrate and a re structure of the sentencing system. more uniforms on the beat with the powers we had. and the freedom to deal with a situation without the fear of being sued if they speak to harshly to little johnny who is being a p***** up obnoxious little B******. the word has to get back on the street that if you are caught breaking the law you WILL be dealt with accordingly. let us forget the liberal 'kid glove' attitude, it has'nt worked it's time to get tough again.

[Paul Hinge]

Carl, that was powerful firewater....I'm impressed you still remembered that! That elderflower wine is now used strictly for medicinal purposes....it's a fantastic cure for a fever or a cold taken with a drop of hot water and sugar.

Hingey