All-day drink should be scrapped — UKIP

Paul Nuttall

NORTH-West MEP Paul Nuttall has blamed a rise in alcohol-fuelled crime and anti-social behaviour on the decade of all-day boozing.

The 24-hour drinking culture experiment — which started 10 years ago today —has “failed in this country and should be scrapped”, according to the deputy leader of UKIP.

Pubs, clubs and supermarkets in England and Wales were allowed to apply for longer opening licences after the introduction of 24-hour drinking in 2005, following legislation passed two years earlier.

Mr Nuttall said it was heralded as the way forward to bring us in to line with the continent.

“We have a very different drinking culture in this country and that tradition served us well,” he said.

Painful

“This experiment has been very painful and costly for this country in terms of alcohol-related incidents.”

The Institute of Alcohol Studies surveyed nearly 5,000 police officers, ambulance staff, NHS medics and firefighters, and three-quarters of police officers and 50 per cent of ambulance staff reported they had been injured while dealing with drink-related violence.

Mr Nuttall added: “There is a culture of fear among emergency service workers about being attacked when dealing with such incidents and many police officers are rightly calling for an end to 24-hour licensing.

“It is clearly time to return to the traditional closing times of 11pm for pubs and 2-3am for clubs.

“This will not only make it far easier for the police to cope but will reduce the amount of violence and the huge cost to the NHS.”