Hands calls for crackdown on binge drinking and yob behaviour

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New calls to tackle soaring levels of alcohol-related violence.

Greg Hands added his support to new Conservative proposals to tackle soaring levels of alcohol-related violence and yob behaviour this week - such as in places like Jerdan Place, Brook Green and Minford Gardens around Hammersmith & Fulham.

Greg explained: "I am all in favour of people having a good time out. But in Hammersmith & Fulham, like in towns and cities across Britain today, we are creating not a café culture, but a yob culture.

The right to have a drink brings with it a responsibility - the responsibility not to ruin everyone else's evening. I have lost count of the times that hard working, law abiding people have told me that they'd rather stay in now than run the gauntlet of the binge drinkers who have taken over their neighbourhoods."

Under the new policies proposed by Conservatives:

o Local councils will have greater discretion over licensing hours, rather than having to follow Whitehall diktats. This will mean local residents will have a greater say - good news for the many local people attending Council licensing panels.

o There should be stronger powers to control late licences to prevent 'disorder hotspots' where they are too many bars or pubs in a vicinity - such as around Fulham Broadway.

o Councils should have the ability to prohibit 'all you can drink' promotions, where young people are encouraged to binge drink on free drinks after paying a one-off entrance fee.

Greg continued: "The face of areas like Jerdan Place and Brook Green has clearly changed - with binge drinking and under-age drinking the most obvious cause. It is time to reclaim our streets and make them safer for everyone at night."

22/8/04