‘Spin' on underage drinking figures is unfair, says industry
Pub companies and trade associations have rallied to the defence of the industry after it was attacked for encouraging underage drinking.
Home Office figures, released last week, showed the results of the department's summer crackdown on problem drinking and fuelled a storm of negative headlines described as "mischievous" by the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR).
Newspapers focused on a police sting operation targeting 646 on- and off-trade establishments, including venues known for breaking the law, which caught out half the visited pubs for serving alcohol to under-18s.
But the reports ignored the Home Office's headline figure which showed that 95% of the 10,882 pubs and nightclubs visited as part of this summer's crackdown were not at fault.
A Barracuda Group spokeswoman said: "I think the spin the national media has put on this is unfair to the industry and unrepresentative of what's going on at ground level. The industry is very aware of its social responsibilities."
Mark Hastings, of the British Beer & Pub Association, added: "We fully support the Home Office enforcement campaign. But the overwhelming evidence from this campaign is that the vast majority of the 60,000 pubs in the UK are law-abiding businesses."
JD Wetherspoon agreed it was unfair to lay the blame for the country's binge-drinking squarely on the trade, as supermarkets could sell people as much cheap beer as they wanted. "There's a misconception that if you're drunk on the street you've been to a pub," said a spokesman.
However, Nick Bish, chief executive of the ALMR, warned the industry not to be complacent. "The media has used the figures to prove a point, but that doesn't alter the fact that some pubs did serve underage drinkers," he said.
"As an industry we must avoid going on the defensive and continue to be proactive in dealing with the issue of underage drinking."