The Prime Minister has been accused of populism after it was confirmed that his proposals to give local authorities “the power to ban 24-hour drinking” were already enshrined in existing legislation.
Speaking at the Labour conference in Brighton yesterday, Gordon Brown said “we will give local authorities the power to ban 24-hour drinking throughout a community in the interests of local people”.
But legal experts and pub industry bodies insisted that powers to review licences already exist in the Licensing Act – and this was confirmed by the Home Office today.
Nick Bish, chief executive of the
Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), said: “It was obviously startling to hear a Labour Prime Minister re-addressing his own legislation.
“It’s hard not to think that this was a populist speech – a well intentioned but misguided statement of a Prime Minister on his last legs.”
Bish pointed out that a large majority of the 24-hour licences were held by supermarkets and by operators in quiet towns, with a particular bias towards the south-west of England.
“I’m not sure a crackdown on a quiet back street pub in Lyme Regis is going to address the problems of binge drinking,” he said.
Brown was also criticised by the
CBI for vowing that the National Minimum Wage would rise every year, for the next five years.
John Cridland, CBI deputy director general, said: “The Low Pay Commission was set up as an independent body to advise the Government on the level of the minimum wage. There is a danger of undermining its standing if politicians make promises about what will happen to the minimum wage in future.
“Ministers would not make promises about interest rates when they are set by an independent committee at the Bank of England, so it is troubling when they appear to treat the minimum wage in a different way.”
Tories would scrap 24-hour drinking laws and oppose minimum pricing >> New figures show marginal increase in 24-hour licences >> Industry welcomes shelving of controversial anti-binge drinking laws >>
For more news, analysis and comment on binge drinking see our dedicated page >>
Rogue hoteliers are paying staff below the minimum wage >> Minimum wage to rise by 7p an hour in October >>
By Daniel Thomas
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