I see the Chief Constable of Cheshire Police is calling for the legal age for buying alcohol to be raised to 21. Apparently he believes that this will reduce the problem of teenage drunkenness. Which suggests that it must be a long time since he last walked a beat.
The problem is not the minimum age at which people are allowed to BUY alcohol. It's the minimum age at which too many retailers are prepared to SELL alcohol, which is already way below the present legal age of 18. Whenever local trading standards departments decide to take out underage volunteers to make test purchases, a crop of prosecutions follows. The trouble is they don't do it very frequently, so most of the time these sales can be made with impunity.
If we are serious about restricting the availability of alcohol for young people, we need much heavier sanctions against those who sell it. That used to be achieved by the threat of losing your licence and hence your livelihood, which doesn't seem to be the case these days where off-sales are concerned.
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3 comments:
With respect, don't think the answer is in the shops. Many adults I know routinely supply alcohol to their kids, and many kids drink it with their friends, terrified of being 'uncool'.
Can't target the shopkeepers. Where will Gordon's money come from, then?
... getting the rich to pay their full rate of tax instead of wandering of the the Channel Islands, or wherever. Good on you Gordon!
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