24 hour drinking a  ridiculous idea
14-March-2010
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24 hour drinking a ridiculous idea

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The introduction of 24 hour drinking in this country is a ridiculous idea.  It will only lead to more trouble and more violence on the streets.  With binge drinking running amok, some town centres will probably even become no-go areas at night.

24 hour drinking likely to cause trouble, disturbance outside oxfordshire pub

The idea that this idea will lead to a continental style pavement cafe/bar culture where everyone sits around chatting quietly and peacefully, drinking beer or coffee or whatever through the evening and into the night is laughable.

I have experienced real thing in various cities in Europe.  It is wonderful to be able to stroll around on an evening among the various bars, cafes and not feel threatened or intimidated by a bunch of thick drunken lager louts.

However, I am afraid the British are far too immature for this scenario.  The British are, dare I say it, too brain dead to behave as civilised as that for more than a minute when there is alcohol around.  If they can't drink until they fall over in a pool of vomit then they don't want to know. Changing the law to allow 24 hour drinking in my opinion, is something that wont work and we will pay dearly for in the long run.

I sometimes feel very ashamed to call myself British.  Well like it or not, 24 hour drinking is going to hit the streets, literally.

I would like to know what anyone else thinks about this.


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Are you in favour of the new extended drinking hours?

Do you think that the new licensing laws that allow pubs to stay open 24 hours are good for the country or is it likely to lead to more alcohol related crime?


 Yes, it's about time
 No, it's a bad idea
 Not sure


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Accept the change - how are we suppose to evolve if you people keep resisting change?! Of course there will be some short term impacts of changes like this but give it more time and you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.
It just annoys me that there are lots of people out there that complain and object to almost every change that gets proposed.
*Steve  28-Feb-2010 18:12

 
When Big Brewer said: "Give us back the freedom to flog cheap booze in Supermarkets and the world will be all fluffly bunnie-wunnies", the government listened.

Now Big Pharma are saying: "Give us back the freedom to flog cheap Heroin and Crack in supermarkets and the world will be all fluffy bunnie-wunnies" will the government listen?

This attempt to drag us all screaming back to pre-Dickensian times in the name of high profits for multi national corporations and higher tax bills for the rest of us who have to deal with the social consequences needs to be opposed more vigourously.

When Sweden sought to control the alcohol problems they were having through imposing a minimum price on products, Big Brewer issued a state whining about how this was empowering criminal gangs. The Government stood their ground and imposed them anyway.

We must not give these corporate expansionists any more gorund. 24 hour drinking should be repealed and a minimum price should be affixed. Let the b----ds squirm and protest, after all they have thousands of pounds worth of self awarded bonuses to fall back on.
*Alan Page  10-Jan-2010 10:35

 
its a great idear .. stil waitin 4 em 2 ligalize drugz doe :L
*nyc gal  04-Dec-2009 12:47

 
OOPS! 24 hours opening!!!! Umm, well I have just had two glasses of nice red wine!
*Osmodia  27-Oct-2009 17:33

 
25 hour opening was a very clever idea, it serves two purposes. One is to show the population that the government are "really good chaps" to allow people to drink all hours, the other (and most important) is to make more money!
The morons that are supposed to be in charge of this fading country really do not care a damn other than to score points (votes) and to make money (inc expenses).
Why do you think they allowed alcopops to be sold? To encourage young people to drink of course!
Also, the introduction of 24 hour drinking made our country more acceptable to EU immigrants.
Lets get back to the old licencing hours.
I lived through my teens and early 20's in a large UK town and we were quite happy to be kicked out of the pub on a Sat night at 11 PM. Not rat-arsed either! We would go straight on to a coffee bar. I never once saw the disgusting spectacle we get now every weekend.
*Osmodia  27-Oct-2009 17:31

 
I quote...."The British are, dare I say it, too brain dead." Well perhaps this gripster is too brian dead to have noticed but we have had the ability for venues to apply for 24 hour opening since 2005! Only 700 venues in the UK have 24 hour opening on their premises lcience, and of them, only a few use it. The fact is British people have been getting drunk and binge drinking since Chaucer's times, if not before, and the Labour Government's idealistic wish to see things change here to as they are on the Continent (cafe style culture) was never going to happen overnight - it won't happen in this generation, and possibly not even the next. It is an admirable wish, but sometimes I think it'll never happen... unless we lock up all people of below average intelligence and see how much our towns benefit from their absence on a Saturday night.
*Licensing Geek  12-Oct-2009 13:35

 
While I don't really think that 24 hour drinking is a good idea, I read that there are actually only two pubs in the country that actually have 24 hour licenses, both in Blandford Forum. This suggests that the 'market' is not over keen on 24 drinking either?
*Timelord  16-Aug-2009 13:53

 
eugh - I am a social/celebratorial drinker. but that doesnt mean I enjoy almost pointlessly wasting my money all the time on alcohol. I especially don't see the point in drinking so much 'till your sick either - or you cant remember squat. people complain abut throwing up after, so what is the point in reaching that stage in the first place?
surely allowing pubs to be open 24 hours only encourages people, especially alcoholics to linger around those places for longer periods of time drinking and giving no reason for keepers to kick them out unless they have passed out/ill?
*Jeany  06-Aug-2009 23:10

 
I agree, lock up the drunks if they're not able to go about their business without causing more disturbance than a slightly annoying sober person.

I'm quite a night owl myself, and I do enjoy having a drink in the local, combine the two and I'm happy about it, then again, a highly inebriated lout isn't too much of a danger to a young fit person like me, so I suppose an increase in police patrols would be a good idea.
*Chris  03-Jun-2009 23:01

 
Well said, Alan. Until the British public are able to use alcohol in a mature and responsible manner, and my guess is that will be never, then self induced suffering should be rewarded by punishment.

They should be locked in a prison cell until they sober up. Repeat offenders should be locked up for a few days. Unpleasant, yes, Cruel, yes. Effective, yes.
*MikeP  24-May-2009 12:53

 
By having 24h drinking, you are absorbing resources that should be used else where. I work as a paramedic, and the fact is, we have seen an increase in the number of call outs in the last few years, more so on a Friday and Saturday night. Although people are correct in saying that it is their right to have an ambulance if they are collapsed and unresponsive due to drink, people need to think and look at the wider picture. As a country we have only so many resources in the 'pot'. I have been activated to calls which are high priority. Calls such as increased shortness of breath, elderly people who have fallen and have a possible fractured hip. On the way to these calls we have been diverted to someone who has collapsed due to alcohol intoxication. A self inflicted problem. We have been diverted to these calls due to the fact that these people, due to having reduced level of consciousness, are considered high priority due to 'not being able to fully maintain their airway'. However, when I turn up to these calls, I am able to get a response. Rather than reducing problems, 24 hour drinking has made them worse, extending the hours of the problem. Police as a resource are also condensed into these hours, taking them away from reducing crime and having a presence where they are needed to deter anti social behaviour.

As a society, we need to treat the population as a mother or father would treat a child. If bad behaviour is a problem, don't reward it by making it more accessible. If a child wilfully breaks a toy, you don't give it more toys. You make it understand its value. Therefore, why extend and make alcohol more accessible when it is causing so many problems.

Employers should also be making a stand. When an employee is seen to act in an aggressive, or rowdy manor, in public, the employer should take action against them. If I am seen to act in a way that some people do on film or in public, I can be fired and taken off my professional register.
*Alan  24-May-2009 12:47

 
the only people that think that this is a good idea are people that have no clue.
it is causing more alcohol related crimes in the early hours and its not a good way to treat yuor body, this is making people drinking alot more and there are bad consiquences if people do tend to drink more often....think would you like your children growing up being able to drink when ever they want to...what sort of place would this be if people think its ok to do this.
*liz  16-Mar-2009 10:45


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