What the Sunday papers said

Binge drinkers will be targeted by a government advertising campaign which will attempt to shame them out of overdoing it when pub hours are extended this autumn. The £5m campaign will portray drunken behaviour as socially unacceptable and embarrassing. A recent survey found that in the UK, unlike elsewhere in Europe, there is little stigma attached to being drunk in public. - The Observer​

The number of alcohol-related deaths has risen by 18 per cent in the past five years, according to government figures. Deaths in England and Wales where alcohol was the "primary cause" increased from 5,525 in 2000 to 6,544 in 2004. - Sunday Telegraph​

Politicians who drew up the new 24-hour drinking laws received thousands of pounds in foreign junkets and hospitality from the alcohol industry. The Mail On Sunday today reveals that five Labour MPs sit on the committee which scrutinised the Licensing Act and are members of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group (APPBG), which has received hundreds of thousands of pounds from the £30bn-a-year drinks industry. Lavish five-course meals with free drinks were often provided at dinners for influential industry members hosted by the APPBG. - Mail On Sunday​

Tiger Tiger operator Urbium is believed to have received an offer of more than £10 per share from private equity firm Electra Partners in a proposed takeover that would value the group at more than £100m. - Sunday Times​

Electra Partners, the private equity firm, is in exclusive talks to buy Urbium, the bar group which owns Tiger Tiger and a string of other central London venues. The firm is understood to be prepared to pay more than £10.75 a share, valuing Urbium at £114m. - Sunday Telegraph​

Scottish & Newcastle's chief executive Tony Froggatt is believed to be piling on the pressure on Didier Lefevre, the boss of the group's badly performing French division. The French arm of the group saw sales fall 4.3 per cent in the first six months of this year. - The Business​

Flat beer markets in the UK have forced Scottish & Newcastle to look to eastern Europe for growth opportunities. Sales at BBH, the group's eastern Europe joint venture with Carlsberg, leapt 24 per cent in the first six monthsa of 2005. These strong sales have offset an overall 10 per cent fall in S&N's international profits. - The Business​

Retailers in London's West End have called for crisis talks with the capital's authorities and key agencies to help find ways to encourage shoppers back into the centre of the city. They will ask for a combined and concerted effort to boost customer confidence in the wake of the London bombings last month. - Sunday Times​

The suggestion in parts of the media that the streets of the UK will resemble Beirut in the 1970s or Faliraki in recent years following a relaxation of the licensing laws is wide of the mark, says Anthony Fuller, chairman of pubco/brewer Fuller's. The majority of the British public welcomes the chance to drink across a wider time period and pubs have the right to serve such customers better. - Sunday Express​

The government has failed in its pledge to create the culture of enterprise necessary for small business to flourish, according to a hard-hitting report from the CBI. The government had missed more than half the targets it set itself via the Small Business Service, it said. - Sunday Times​

And finally...

Founder and sole shareholder in St Peter's Brewery, John Murphy, is selling the business for £20m. The sale of the brewery, which makes a range of organic and flavoured ales, will complete a hat-trick of corporate windfalls for Mr Murphy, who's previously made "handsome profits" from sales of the Interbrand design consultancy and the drinks brand, Plymouth Gin.