Met chief warns over 24-hour drinking
Sir John Stevens, the outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has said that moves towards a 24-hour drinking culture in Britain should be slowed down.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Government plans to liberalise drinking laws ignored the culture of binge-drinking in the UK and would stretch police resources further.
“The move towards 24-hour drinking needs to be slowed down. The fact that large groups of people will be coming out at 3am or 4am will mean that we have to man up the streets to deliver a service to ensure these people behave,” Sir John said.
“You can see excessive drinking in extraordinary amounts on a Friday or Saturday night. That’s one of the reasons I think that assaults against the police have gone up.”
Sir John said that the number of assaults on London police officers had risen by 40 per cent in the last year.
The Government’s Licensing Act 2003 – due to be implemented next year – will give local authorities the power to grant licenses and allow pubs and clubs to open around the clock.
The Government claims that staggering closing times will prevent drinkers spilling onto the streets at the same time and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has said the new laws will treat people “like grown-ups.”
During the interview, Sir John again called for the law governing the homeowners’ right to protect themselves against intruders to be clarified. He stressed the need for there to be a “presumption of innocence” on anyone injuring an intruder in the defence of their property.
