
Restricting the sale of alcohol in supermarkets to those over 21, is just another example of the government failing to grasp the nettle and tackle the real (and difficult) problem. Papering over the cracks, as it were. And it also gives out the subliminal message that the individual is not to blame, but the alcohol is.
And there lies the problem - a lack of personal responsibility. If you get drunk and you know that causing trouble will land you a custodial sentence, no matter what sob-story you give the magistrate, then you are much more likely to take responsibility for your behaviour. However, this would involve building more prisons, courts, police stations and recruiting all the people to run them. The type of people who run Britain's government, are the same people who say things like "what kind of society locks up its people?", whilst wringing their hands in the comfort of some cosy London bistro. A stroll around Leeds city centre in the early hours of Saturday night, would soon disabuse them about what sort of society doesn't lock up it's people.
I have heard senior police officers state categorically that alcohol is to blame for inner city fighting on Friday and Saturday nights. Well, every now and then, events come up which have the secondary effect of producing a huge social experiment. Such an event was last Autumn's Rugby World Cup. 200,000 English fans out of a total of 1.8 million fans overall, descended on France and drank the place dry over a space of six weeks. Where was the fighting?

Good natured drinkers enjoy England success in Paris and help to explode the myth that alcohol is to blame for violence.




