Michael Fabricant challenged Home Office Ministers in the Commons
yesterday (31st January) regarding their plans to allow 24 hour
drinking. "I used to think that it was wrong to restrict licensing
hours. I admit I was wrong." says Michael Fabricant "Police officers in
Lichfield have told me that 24 hour licences will mean more work for
them dealing with drunken yobs. There are enough problems already in
Lichfield and Burntwood on a Friday and Saturday night without all night
revellers causing more disturbances."

Michael asked Home Office Minister, Hazel Blears yesterday: "How can
the Minister be so sanguine about the prospect of 24-hour drinking? She
said the president of the Police Superintendents Association supports
it, but she will have heard the comments of Sir John Stevens the former
Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police and the comments of police
constables on the beat, who say that it is hard enough tackling one
person who is drunk, without hordes and hordes of people being drunk
through the night. We heard earlier from her about the problems in large
cities. In the City of Lichfield, we have a problem, too.

She replied: "I am sure that there is a problem in Lichfield and other
places. It is not confined to the inner cities. Rural market towns and
very small areas face similar problems of disorder fuelled by alcohol. I
am not complacent at all. I recognise police concerns about the need to
deploy officers on the streets, but if the police work with local
authorities, with the newly licensed door supervisors at the premises,
and with the many public sector people who are on the streets, we can
help to get a grip on the problem. We must ensure that the industry
itself has a more responsible attitude towards drinking. I am delighted
that some of the big chains, including Wetherspoon and Yates’s, are
outlawing irresponsible promotions. That is an extremely good sign, and
I would encourage many more licensees and retailers to do the same

Michael now says: "The Government just don’t have a grip on reality.
It’s time ministers saw for themselves what mayhem late night drinking
will cause."