Trade leader blasts calls for drinking age rise
Calls for the drinking age to be raised to 21 have been blasted by a trade leader.
Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations, has responded to Observer columnist Jasper Gerard,who argues in the Institute for Public Policy Research's journal that the legal drinking age should be raised to 21.
Gerard argues that the UK has 'lost the plot' when it comes to regulating alcohol. He also proposes requiring 18-year-olds to carry smart cards to record how much they have drunk each night and restrict under-21s to three units of alcohol.
Gerard said: "The adverse social effects of binge-drinking are now so overwhelming that we need to practice tough love.
"By raising the age threshold it is at least possible that those in their early and mid teens will not see drink as something they will soon be allowed to do so therefore they might as well start doing it surreptitiously now. Instead they might come to see it as it should be: forbidden."
However, Payne argued that increasing the age to 21 would not be an effective move to counter binge-drinking. He says the countr has not "lost the plot" and that the majority of people drink sensibly at all ages.
He said: "If an 18-year old is not mature enough to drink responsibly surely that can't be old enough to vote someone into Parliament? And then surely they are not mature enough to join the army and fight on front line?
"If there is a problem with certain individuals they should be dealt with."
A government spokesman has revealed it has no intention of increasing the legal age to drink alcohol.
