Drinking humble pie
by Duncan O'Leary
The Guardian carries a story today on the fall of serious/violent crime since the liberalisation of drinking laws at the end of last year. It's clearly too early to say what the long-term results will be, but i had thought (and hoped) that despite all the hysteria this would be a case where the government had got it right. The article suggests that part of the success story was:
"'2.5m to boost a range of specialist operations, including issuing fixed penalty notices for alcohol related disorder, cracking down on those who sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 18, using CCTV footage to step in early to stop incidents escalating, and closing premises using existing and tough new powers in the Licensing Act 2003."
I'm sure to an extent this is true, but my hunch is that the (apparent) success of the move wasn't primarily in the new powers vested in authorities. Instead, i'd guess that the answer lies in that old chesnut of laws that focus not just on what government can 'deliver', but which see the public as part of the solution rather than simply a problem to dealt with.