I attended Drinkaware’s London Roadshow this week and while it was great to hear some of the good work and partnership arrangements which are helping to deliver safer experiences within the night-time economy, the focus on alcohol’s relationship with crime made me uneasy.
Karen Bradley, minister for preventing abuse, exploitation & crime, set the tone, talking about how people should be able to enjoy the night-time economy free from the fear of crime.
The idea that alcohol is the root of a lot of crime seems, if not naive, then certainly politically convenient. The idea of tackling the behaviour of a minority by controlling alcohol consumption smacks of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and fuels paranoia around alcohol consumption and crime.
Crime
Generally speaking, those who commit the crime are likely to do so regardless of alcohol consumption — alcohol might disinhibit them, but it’s not the cause.
I don’t drink three pints and then decide to attack a random stranger. Nor do i find that drinking a bottle of wine leads to me burgling the people next door either.
We seem to promote alcohol to a position where it’s a major cause of such crime, rather than a contributory factor, and to do so runs the risk of ignoring the wider social problems that drive such behaviours while demonising alcohol consumption generally through linking it with the actions of a minority.
But of course, it’s politically expedient to point the finger at alcohol consumption, and to talk about things like fear-of-alcohol crime.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last time I was in a pub and felt at risk! The concept of the night-time economy and pubs being lumped in with that also rings false.
All-day affair
Pubs are about more than just night time — pubs are rapidly becoming all-day operations, providing services from breakfast through to supper.
They’ve evolved beyond simply being venues for drinking in during an evening out. They’re all manner of things —community operations, gastropubs, social hubs to name but a few.
Pubs are evolving all the time, and we need to be communicating that to the authorities to avoid being punished by politically expedient generalisations.
The Great British Pub Awards can help with that. Launching this week, these awards give us a great platform to celebrate not just excellence in the sector, but the diversity pubs offer society.
Success
These awards have been running for more than a decade now and are the original and most prestigious, showcasing amazing businesses throughout the country.
We’ve made a few changes this year, introducing a couple of new categories, and simplified the entry process to make it more straightforward for businesses to enter.
This year we’re also calling on customers to vote for their favourite pub — getting the people whose views really matter to nominate the best businesses into the competition.
I’d challenge every operator to get involved in the competition. The awards offer a great chance to benchmark your business, and if you get through to the finals, it’s a great promotional opportunity for your pub.
These awards are a great opportunity for the whole trade to celebrate what makes the British pub great, and it’s a real honour and privilege for us to organise them.