Tories attack 'shambolic' Government on alcohol plans

The Conservatives have accused the Government of acting in a "shambolic way" over its plan to ban alcohol sales between 3am and 6am.

The proposal was a late addition to the Crime and Security Bill, which Shadow home affairs minister James Brokenshire labelled "the Christmas tree Bill of all Christmas tree Bills" — because the Government keeps dangling attractive-looking features on it.

"It is astonishing that with so little time left in this Parliament, the Government should be using it in such a shambolic way," Brokenshire told Parliament yesterday.

"So much for joined-up Government. If the motion is passed, the Government will simply seek to add another eye-catching initiative to a hotch-potch of a Bill — a Bill full of disparate measures designed to create headlines, rather than real solutions to the problems of this country, which are made worse by this Government."

He said the Government has know about problems between 3am and 6am since a report from 2007

"If the Government have known about the issue for such a long time, why the sudden urgency? Why has this not been addressed before? Why was this measure not deemed sufficiently important to be incorporated in the Bill before it was published?"

Vote grabbing​

Fellow Conservative MP Peter Bone said: "I wonder whether this has been tacked on as some kind of vote-grabbing measure because there is a general election on the horizon."

Home Office minister Alan Campbell ordered the plan to be scrutinised by the MPs on the Crime and Security Bill Committee for the next stage of its progress through Parliament.

Campbell said the new restrictions on opening are "important and timely".

"We are constantly looking at the need for new legislation, at how it works when it beds down and at the next step. Alcohol-related disorder is a good example of why we need to be on the front foot, because the 2008 review of the Licensing Act 2003 found a mixed picture throughout the country."

He said the plan had to be introduced in the Bill's second reading to ensure the its measures are "balanced and proportionate", although he admitted the process is "unusual".

Campbell said there would be opportunities for further debate later; for example, in Committee and in the Lords.

"I regard this as the start of the debate, not the conclusion," he added.