Comment: Booze Asbos among Labour’s greatest failures

The day I had hoped would never come has arrived. No, I haven’t come to work sans trousers, nor has my dog died. Rather, today is the day I find myself agreeing with the Conservatives.

The UK government’s latest hair-brained scheme to curb anti-social behaviour among rowdy drinkers – the “booze Asbo” – has to rank among the most short-sighted, unenforceable and downright useless pieces of legislation we have seen in 12 years under Labour.

Aside from the fact that Drinking Banning Orders (DBO), to give them their official name, were first promised back in 2005 and included in the following year’s Violent Crime Reduction Act, there appears to be a complete lack of direction among ministers regarding ways to help purge Britain of drunken public disorder. If the government was so convinced back then that introducing these orders would do the trick, why have they waited four years to introduce them?

Under the new legislation, DBOs can be applied to any individual over the age of 16 who frequently gets involved in anti-social behaviour, crime or violence while under the influence of alcohol.

Yet rather than allowing the landlords, shopkeepers or other unfortunate victims of such behaviour to apply for such orders, only the police and the local council have the power to apply to magistrates for a DBO, who will then have the power to impose any condition they think necessary to stop the individual re-offending.

Such measures can include banning them from certain pubs and off-licences and preventing them from drinking in public places. They could even apply a restraining order banning them from going near certain areas. Anybody found to be in breach of a DBO – the duration of which can vary from two months to two years – could face a fine of up to £2,500.

The theory is sound. Yet you would have thought that the problems local authorities have encountered while trying to enforce regular Asbos in Britain would have taught somebody in power that perhaps the system needs shoring up. Then again, we should have known better than to expect the government to take a lesson on board. All they want to do is make headlines, and if those headlines can be about alcohol – in their eyes the foundation of all that is wrong with society and the sole reason for the nation’s ills – then all the better.

Yet how will they possibly be able to enforce them? Will every offender carry an electronic tag which gives them a shock whenever they enter a bar? Will they be fitted with an alarm which sounds every time they approach a particular off-licence? What happens if the person moves to a new area, with a whole new town full of bars, pubs and off-licences to terrorise free from the restrictions of their booze Asbo?

Far from being a deterrent, the initiative will merely encourage the more enterprising offenders to seek new and exciting ways to flout their bans. Some will even view them as trophies, as confirmation of their ability to kick seven bells out of a shop window or of their status as a local nutter.

Fortunately it looks as though I am not alone in recognising the futility of these new ‘powers’. I’m not going to waste time talking about the views of David Cameron, who will never miss an opportunity to slate Labour policy yet will never fail to offer absolutely nothing by way of an alternative strategy, but there are others in his party and the rest of Parliament who share concerns over the shoddy system.

The shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, said: “The trouble is that the government’s system of Asbos is already becoming discredited, with as many as three-quarters being breached, and because they need months of work to put in place.

“We all want to see real steps to tackle alcohol abuse, but Labour has a long track record of getting things wrong.”

Shadow home affairs minister James Brokenshire also waded into the row, saying the new measures were “yet another headline-grabbing gimmick”.

He added: “Ministers clearly don’t see them as an essential measure as they’ve taken three years to bring them into effect. Less than 12 months ago they even questioned whether these orders were needed at all. Whilst the government has dithered, the alcohol issues have deteriorated.”

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: “There’s no reason to believe that these powers will be any more effective than the ordinary Asbos which are routinely breached.

“Experts tell us that tackling the issue of cheap alcohol is key to making our streets safer, but Gordon Brown has refused to follow the advice of his chief medical officer and establish a minimum-pricing regime.

“We are only going to get to grips with alcohol-related crime and disorder with a minimum price for alcohol and better enforcement of existing laws to crack down on irresponsible licence holders.”

The feeling prevails, however, that it is expecting too much of this government to take a common-sense, informed approach to the problems posed by Britain’s binge-drinking brigade.

This is, after all, a government which needs to plough public money into the Drinkaware Trust, which this week knocked the nation sideways with the startling revelations that 48% of 18-24 year-olds have vomited at least once before through drinking too much, and that one in three of them have found themselves so tired after a night out that they’ve – wait for it – gone to sleep!

If the government needs these surveys to tell it how young people act on a night on the town, then there really is no hope for any of us.

Labour are out of touch, out of ideas and out of time. It’s time for someone else to try to sort out this mess.

Alan Lodge, 02.09.2009

Do you agree with db? Can DBOs be made into an effective deterrent? Has the government simply run out of ideas? Email your views to debate@thedrinksbusiness.com

Mark Rennie, Richard Granger Wines

"Concerning the debate on the question of  the introduction of DBOs, isn’t about time that it was pointed out to this incompetent Government that there are already sufficient laws to deal with problems of this nature, specifically one that  prohibits a Licence Holder, or anyone acting on his behalf, from serving alcohol to anyone who is, or in his/her opinion appears to be, drunk.

If he/she permits someone to purchase alcohol on the premises on behalf of another who appears to be drunk, then an offence of permitting drunkenness is commissioned.

Why are these more than adequate laws not being enforced? You could tell this Government, and I, having held Justices Licences on behalf of my company over many years in both England and Scotland, could tell this Government, but it just does not listen. What is wrong with it?

Ps. Another instance of the difficulties faced appeared in today’s edition of the Metro free newspaper.  An advertisement placed by Tesco encourages shoppers to spend £30.00 in store whereupon they will be given a coupon enabling them to purchase a box of either 15x440ml cans of Strongbow cider, 18x284ml bottles of Stella Artois, or 18x275ml bottles of Beck’s. In the corner of the half-page advertisement is the logo of drinkaware.co.uk, surmounted by the words "why let good times go bad?"

Who is kidding who?