Cameron - crackdown on booze abuse

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Yet another policy planning idea that has been bubbling away in politicians heads for years is being resurrected, again. Lets crackdown on all those nasty peasants who go out at weekends with the sole intention of getting completely off their heads by over boozing. We have all seen the CTV footage of city centre pubs and clubs, people staggering out drunk creating unwanted problems for BiB and NHS.
So will the Government raise the duty on booze, minimum price it per unit, treat drunks like they used to and sling them into 'Drunk Tanks' or just talk about it and do nothing.
I hope that pricing will remain unaffected and only those that get off their heads in public are penalised.

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As part of growing up I was also out and about downing pints and shorts like there was no tomorrow. Stagger home, usually ten miles or more, and be home by 4.00 or 5.00am. Sleep it off for the day and repeat Saturday night. Never had problems (that I can remember)and after a few years of this I grew up. So I helped the local economy by spending all of my left over wages, after paying Mum housekeeping, in the pubs.
The only difference I can see now is that the drunks seem to be unable to walk/stagger home without needing a ambulance to offer them comfort. Bloody lightweights.

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I know I know, I'm an old fart that would like to see coal mining revived in the U.K. So harking back to the good ole daze wine drinking was almost unheard of in the 1970's! If you ordered a glass of wine in a pub that would get some looks from other punters for sure. Then wine appeared and it was Blue Nun, what a treat of real upper class pretentiousness for us snotty nosed oiks. Blue Nun back now

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Mojocvh said:

Quite right, and another question is WHY people need to get plastered, nothing to do with a whole raft of deep seated social problems in the slightest then Mr Cameroon.

Nail on the head.

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Just pondering the fraction of percentage of the population that are causing the two billion pounds annual problem and social disruption. Must be a tiny fraction. This is not a justification to increase booze tax to crack the problem, which won't work, full stop.

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sleep envy said:

I think there's you answer.

BTW, I do care if it costs me £10 more a week if cretins don't know how to handle their drink.

Quite so, and I am not taking the pee when I mention our pensioner friends, they are not all the silver surfers going on three holidays a year. Some old blokes and woman still enjoy a few pints of stout topped up with gin and tonic. An extra tenner a week may be quite a sum of money to those without a works pension.

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Mobile Chicane said:

People don't stop drinking due to the cost. They make / buy illegal alcohol, or their kids go without.

We have had the bottles of poisoned paradise here in East Anglia, pay 7 quid for a bottle of chemicals dressed to look like a decent bottle of spirit. The stuff was actually being stocked by the less 'caring' side of the booze retailers. Bloody scary stuff and if extra tax goes onto proper booze it merely opens the door wider to this type of crap.

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Mobile Chicane said:

A cousin in Estonia went blind and died from methanol poisoning as a result of drinking illegal vodka.

Apparently it's a growing problem in the present economic climate: unemployment is high, and drowning one's sorrows is part of the northern european mindset.

<PH> If allowed to spread here it will remove a few scumbags from the gene pool </PH>

The BiB and Customs were busy doing their best to track the poisons down, for that is what it is, as you mention your cousin died after drinking the stuff. Apparently you cannot taste the poisonous elements and think you have just had a good deal. I guess the skint and desperate people convince themselves its good stuff. This stuff is apparently coming over in large quantities, the Government might think about addressing this much more serious problem perhaps.