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Lady Olga Maitland: I thank my hon. Friend.
People in Sutton are proud, dignified and hard-working. Even in our own high street, however, we have the problem of under-age drinking. The problem has been exacerbated because, in their wisdom, Liberal Democrats in the town hall gave planning permission for the opening of new nightclubs and pubs. Sutton residents knew that such permission would bring only trouble to the high street, and that is what has happened.
We sent petitions and warned the council, and we demonstrated on the issue, but it would not listen. I have spoken to the local police, and they have shrugged their shoulders and admitted that their representations to the council were not properly heard. At long last, the police may be given those vital powers.
Sutton police have also told me of their intense frustration. Currently, all they can do when they find under-age young people helpless with drink in the high street is to bundle them into a car and return them to their parents. Often, parents are shocked and horrified to
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We should deal with another aspect of the problem--the marketing of those somewhat off-beat drinks, the alcopops. I have long admired Dr. John Rae, the director of the Portman Group, and congratulate him on working with drinks manufacturers to create a voluntary code. Although the code is working, it has not solved the problem. There is no point in having a voluntary code to control the marketing of such drinks if it ultimately has no bite or sanctions to force changes in marketing practice.
I read in The Daily Telegraph today that there has been a degree of success in that the Portman Group upheld some complaints about particularly aggressive advertising of drinks with names such as Purple Passion, TNT Liquid Dynamite and a beer called--I do not think that I can mention its name publicly as it is just too awful.[Hon. Members: "Go on."] No, I will not.
Such drinks are being marketed aggressively for a host of reasons. One is to make young people feel big and brave. Others are to imply that a youngster drinking these products will be more attractive to women or that drinking them is safe because they are really nothing but soft drinks with a little lift. Such insidious marketing is very dangerous. We should go beyond merely upholding complaints and consider how to impose sanctions on manufacturers who use unsuitable advertising which incites young people to drink and thus causes serious problems.
The number of young people taking to drink has rocketed. Some surveys have been carried out of the numbers involved. For example, Edinburgh university conducted a survey of 7,500 pupils in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is worrying that it found that 94 per cent. of those pupils had consumed alcohol.
Young people drink alcohol because they believe it to be an easy option with no dangers. They want to be seen as grown up and want to show off to their friends, but they have no idea how to handle alcohol or of its effects, and their behaviour is causing them untold harm. One of the dangers is that alcohol makes them lose their sense of control and reason. Unfortunately, that leads to unprotected sex and we see teenage mothers coming on stream. This is the reality; what I am saying is not anecdotal.
A teenage mother came to see me, bouncing her baby on her knee. I asked her how she came to be pregnant--I was rather severe with her and imagined being her mother. She replied, "Oh, one too many drinks at Christmas." I said that I hoped the father was going to support the child but she said that he could not because he was still at school--she was, too. The problems caused by drinking are so serious that the Bill is more important than we perhaps realise.
We must also bear it in mind that some young people who drink alcohol because it gives them a buzz and a lift might, in their vulnerable state, try soft drugs and then hard drugs. That can lead to a life of crime to support the purchase of those drugs or more alcohol. The Bill will therefore be far more effective than we have perhaps given it credit for.
It is interesting to note what has happened when local authorities have tried to control drinking in public places by invoking byelaws, which have some merit.
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What the police can do, however, is get tough with off-licences. Indeed, in many cases, they monitored off-licences to see whether they were illegally selling drink to young people, or aiding and abetting people who could lawfully buy drink but who then handed it to their younger brothers and sisters.
Byelaws can be effective, as we have seen throughout the country. Indeed, I was talking to the local police for Whitby Bay about how effective byelaws have been in bringing under-age drinking under control. It is interesting that, in Northumbria, crime dropped by 50 per cent. when they were introduced, because, when people are not drunk, they are less likely to misbehave, and there is less likely to be vandalism, theft, burglary and other socially unacceptable behaviour.
My hon. Friend's Bill is enormously important--I am glad to see that he has returned. With this Bill, he is leading and the world is following. Many people will follow the Bill's progress with enormous interest. When it becomes an Act, it will undoubtedly change our social landscape, and will place greater emphasis on parental power and responsibility. Parents must be accountable not only to their children but to the law. Perhaps, at a later stage, we will hold parents accountable--even have them up in court and fine them--if their children are persistent drinkers.
Dr. Spink:
I am grateful to all hon. Members for supporting this important Bill. By their actions, everyone will see that we in the House intend to make the streets safer for young and old people alike. I particularly thank my hon. Friend the Minister and the Home Office for their kind help.
We have had a constructive debate, in the best traditions of the House. My right hon. Friend the Member for Wirral, West (Mr. Hunt) made a powerful speech, and brought to the debate the experience of his local police. He spoke most eloquently, and I am deeply indebted to him for his encouragement to me to take up the Bill in the first instance, and for his subsequent advice.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr. Luff), who has given his full support to the Bill and does such excellent work in his constituency in fighting this problem.
My hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Hawkins) was right to focus on the support for the Bill from the police,, who, after all, have to deal with these problems on the streets at the sharp end.
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My hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Mr. Amess) made a most important point about the provision of youth facilities. The Bill in itself will not be a panacea. It will not solve all the problems. We need to provide alternative and challenging facilities for young people.
I am particularly grateful to the hon. Member for Knowsley, North (Mr. Howarth), the Opposition Front-Bench spokesman, for his positive approach to this measure. He rightly drew attention to the simple formula: drink plus youths equals trouble, and too often violence, so we must act now. He made an excellent speech. I am sorry if he thought me a little critical. It was not directed to him personally. I am very grateful for his support.
My hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Lady Olga Maitland) made her usual fearless injunctions on behalf of the family. She is unequalled in her support for the family, and we all enjoyed her speech.
The Portman Group believes in targeted rather than blanket solutions. It says:
The Portman Group's code of practice on the naming, packaging and merchandising of alcoholic drinks has been supported by the vast majority of companies that manufacture and sell alcohol in the UK. The code represents agreement within the industry that no alcoholic drink should appeal overtly to under-18s. It is a voluntary code; I hope that it works, and I congratulate the Portman Group on its finding in the three cases this morning. The industry must, however, realise that, if the voluntary code does not work, the matter will be taken up by the House, and we shall enforce tighter restrictions.
A number of detailed questions on the guidelines and on unlawful access have been raised by my hon. Friends the Members for Hexham (Mr. Atkinson) and for Finchley (Mr. Booth), and especially by my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-West (Mr. Stern). The latter is absolutely right to put the Bill under the most careful scrutiny, and I welcome that. Those questions will be dealt with in Committee; I shall not deal with them now, because I want to give as much time as possible to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) to ensure that the Road Traffic Reduction Bill can get the same fair and full Second Reading that my Bill has been afforded by the House.
"Problems such as drink-driving, late-night disorder and excessive or 'binge' drinking are best solved by a combination of balanced legislation, high quality staff training for alcohol retailers and credible research-based education about what constitutes 'sensible' drinking."
My Bill will play an important legislative part. Although mention has been made of the Portman Group's opposition to the Bill, it has told me that, providing that it is just one measure in a whole series of measures, and that it takes into account the various practical difficulties that I addressed in my speech, it is happy to see the Bill go forward. I am grateful to the Portman Group for its support, even though it is a little lukewarm.
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