Politicians pick on licensing laws in run-up to elections
Both Labour and the Conservatives threaten further revision of licensing procedures as they vow to get tough on the causes of binge-drinking. Daniel Thomas reports.
The pub industry is no stranger to the role of political football, and it was not a surprise to see licensing laws used by both major parties during their annual conferences to show how they were going to "crack down" on antisocial behaviour.
Hearing the leader of the party that created the legislation allowing for extended opening hours talk about "banning 24-hour drinking" - in itself a spurious phrase given the tiny number of round-the-clock licences held - was enough to bring a wry smile to the faces of industry leaders.
It wasn't just the obvious irony of Gordon Brown, in effect, criticising his own legislation; powers to review licences already exist in the 2003 Licensing Act.
The new chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, Brigid Simmons, said the comments signify the period of "soundbite politics" we will endure in the run-up to next year's General Election, where politicians are "saying things that sound good at the time, but don't really understand what they mean".
Nick Bish, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said Brown's Brighton speech was "a well-intentioned but misguided statement of a prime minister on his last legs".
Never ones to be outdone when it comes to tough talk, the Conservatives also addressed binge-drinking at their conference in Manchester last week, vowing to crack down on the sale of below-cost alcohol and "tear up the Government's lax licensing regime".
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling also vowed to increase the tax on super-strength lagers, ciders and alcopops and increase the contribution late-night operators make to policing and social costs by raising the amount they pay for their licence.
Bish welcomed the focus on supermarkets selling booze at rock-bottom prices. "The licensing regime for the off-trade is undoubtedly too lax," he said. "The 2003 Licensing Act swept away all restrictions on the time at which alcohol may be sold and its location in the store. As a result, shoppers literally fall over displays of very cheap alcohol, meaning drinking at home has replaced drinking in a well-regulated, licensed environment."
But Bish raised fears that the party's proposal to tear up the Licensing Act may have unforeseen consequences. "The Tory Party must take care that in their rush to talk tough they do not inadvertently damage the thousands of community pubs they profess to want to save," he said. "The 2003 act took two years to introduce and imposed significant legal and administrative costs on individual pubs. We want gradual evolution, not further revolution."
Responding to the proposal that late-night businesses should contribute more to the costs of policing, Bish pointed out that town centre operators already pay more for their licence.
And he added: "A top-up levy based on trading time rather than location appears to run the risk of penalising responsible operators, for example, a community pub providing food and trading occasionally until 1am."
Bish urged politicians to work with the industry to "develop sensible, workable and above all consistent proposals rather than soundbite politics".
