Shoot and then ask questions
It is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy when the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith cites the levels of prosecutions for underage sale as a reason why action needs to be taken on dealing with underage drinking.
Reading a speech she made in north London recently, it was apparent that she wove together the twin strands of street disorder and underage sales into one seamless paragraph, linking juvenile excesses and the shortcomings of the trade with the reason why city centres see a high level of disturbance.
But that is the political game: verbal shorthand destined to attract the headline writers and with elements of the truth thrown in. In that, I have to agree with Tim Martin of JD Wetherspoon that the Government is "show-boating" on the issue of underage drinking.
The reason, of course, for the high level of prosecutions recently is entirely the high-profile and heavily-funded campaign undertaken by the Home Office itself.
It is not that underage sales in the pub trade have escalated out of all proportion, as Ms Smith would seem to suggest. In fact, it is likely, given the climate of fear, that 21-year-olds find it increasingly difficult to get a drink in a number of establishments without producing their passports - and we used to attack Eastern Europe for running a police state!
Let us once again be clear - it is not illegal in this country to drink alcohol under the age of 18.
Nor is there any sensible suggestion around that we should pass a law prohibiting consumption under that age, even if it could be enforced. The current law targets the seller of alcohol, purely and simply, be they a supermarket chain or a village pub. Both of these, apparently, are in the same position under the law with regard to the invitation to buy alcoholic products.
This has come about because of the obsession with the one-size-fits-all system of licensing which was devised by the Home Office before it lost licensing to the DCMS. In the past year, as I have pointed out many times before, all the main alcohol-related initiatives have come from the Home Office, and whole chunks of Jacqui Smith's speech appear to come from a Government minister who is in charge of licensing matters.
Licensing is in the main a social issue. It is not really to do with recreation and leisure, in the way that sport or entertainment are. I am sure that there is a big debate still going on as to who should be calling the shots in
the future.
