Page 717 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 1 April 2008
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It is a fact of life that misuse of alcohol can fuel violence. We need systems in place to minimise the capacity for this to happen. I am confident that, to a large extent, this is already happening.
The legislation and the capacity to issue on-the-spot fines will expand the capacity and act as a significant deterrent against engaging in antisocial behaviour. But, as I have said already, it is a shame that the government has not extended the scope of this bill to include violence and so on. We should never forget that individuals must take responsibility for their actions. A night out drinking or, in some cases, taking drugs, is no justification for poor behaviour. Individuals must be held responsible for their own behaviour, and this new system will give police the power to make people pay when they engage in antisocial behaviour. But, that being said, I was watching television the other night—I may have mentioned this earlier in the Assembly—and heard a senior British police officer lamenting the problems they have across the UK on Friday and Saturday nights and saying it is all well and good to say the police should fix everything, but the fundamental problem is the lack of willingness on the part of people in the community to accept responsibility for their actions. They showed appalling footage taken in various places around the UK on a typical Friday or Saturday night. I am sure those members who have been to London have witnessed that sort of thing. It is not uncommon in the UK, and there still seems to be in our modern times a reluctance on the part of an element to take any responsibility for their own conduct.
On-the-spot fines will place a burden of responsibility on individuals. Drunken and antisocial behaviour in public will not be tolerated and will, with the passage of this bill, result in an immediate fine. This is a good thing. But, again, I believe that other offences, including violence, should be included in this bill. There is, unfortunately, a trend in society to blame society and venues and, it seems, anyone but the individual behaviour which they might engage in when they are out on the drink. “Binge drinking” has again become a popular buzz word, and it would seem it is not the fault of the individual who chooses to drink to excess and behave appallingly, but of society for encouraging it or forcing them into it. I just do not accept the argument that if we ban alcohol advertising or remove sponsorship at sporting events then we will solve all of our problems. All we will do is, in fact, create a massive financial shortfall in sport, which will not correct any of these issues but, in fact, will create a whole new set of problems for those who are involved in organised sporting activities.
I would argue, Mr Speaker, that individuals are the ones to blame for drinking to excess. Similarly, I contend that it would be exceptionally rare for somebody to be involved in a fight or other antisocial behaviour without consciously choosing to be. I have talked to members of my office who are younger than me, and I have talked to other people outside of that environment. The general view I hear from people is that if you want to get into a fight, you can easily do it, but if you want to avoid getting into a fight in a licensed premises, there is absolutely no necessity to get into those circumstances. Some people go looking for trouble and some people, when they drink, take on a new sense of bravado, and it is not unreasonable that this place should pass legislation to enable those involved in law enforcement to identify and address and quickly create fines for those who continue to be involved in this sort of activity.
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