LibDems call for crackdown on pubs
The Liberal Democrats have leapt on new figures it claims show the government is failing to use the new Licensing Act to control the licensed trade.
The figures show that:
* of the quarter of a million personal licence-holders in this country (252,600) only 13 had their licences suspended and just 11 were revoked
*of the 122,900 premises licensed for sale of alcohol, only 69 licenses were suspended
* in the latest available figures (2005), only four licensees were convicted of selling liquor to a drunk person.
Shadow culture secretary Don Foster called on the government to start holding Britain's pubs, bars and off-licences to account for the country's binge-drinking problems, and contrasted the figures with statistics showing:
* in 2006/07 there were 1,087,000 violent incidents with alcohol involved (46 per cent of all violent incidents.)
* the number of drinkers being admitted to A&E has almost doubled (up 96 per cent) under Labour to 148,000 a year, or 400 per day
* the Home Office's Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol campaign found that 40 per cent of licensed premises were failing to ask for identification on the first visit by their inspection teams.
Foster said: "The government's own figures show a complete failure to tackle Britain's growing drink problem.
"When the new Licensing Act was introduced, we were promised a continental drinking culture, but in reality we've seen a dramatic leap in alcohol related A&E admissions and a surge in drunken violence. We have laws in place to guard against these incidents, but they just aren't being enforced - when laws are flouted, licences must be revoked or suspended.
"The buck must stop with ministers - it's their job to hold Britain's pubs, bars and off-licences to account for the country's binge drinking culture."
