Government shelves mandatory code
The Government is to shelve the mandatory code on alcohol retailing as part of a clear out of "anti-business" measures.
Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, has ordered a raft of regulations to be delayed due to the recession, according to reports in the Times this morning.
In a letter to members of a Cabinet sub-committee, Mandelson singled out the mandatory code on alcohol as a candidate for delay.
Mandelson wrote: "I support the approach that where measures appear without a planned implementation date — and on the assumption they are not planned for the near future — we commit to not imposing these measures until after April 2011."
The move is the latest U-turn forced on Labour by the downturn and comes just five months after Gordon Brown pledged to bring in a new mandatory code on the sale of alcohol, which would tackle binge drinking and target promotions such as "drink all you can for a fiver", which he said could "turn some town centres into no-go areas".
A Home Office spokesman said yesterday that there was no implementation date for the new code: "The enabling power for the code is contained in the Policing and Crime Bill currently going through Parliament. Until it has passed all its stages it is not possible to give a date when the code will come into effect."
Other laws set to be delayed include plans to extend maternity leave from nine months to a year, new rights for fathers to claim up to six months' paternity leave and a ban on cigarette displays in retail outlets.
