The Government plans to stop some types of drinks promotion in a bid to discourage binge drinking.
It wants to stop shops from using promotions like ‘buy one get one free’ or deals offering three bottles of wine for £10 and discounted multipacks of beer. The plans will be part of the Policing and Crime Bill.
But critics say the Government must share the blame for the problem of irresponsible drinking because it introduced 24-hour licensing. Since the law changed, crime levels and health problems associated with alcohol have increased.
Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation, said the Government had “only put a sticking plaster on a growing wound.”
Mr McKeever added: “The advent of 24/7 licensing has encouraged people to drink to excess and we have seen greater numbers of youngsters spilling out on to the streets at all hours, often resulting in increased violence and anti-social behaviour.
“The Government needs to bite the bullet, recognise that 24/7 licensing was a mistake and give the public an early Christmas present by reversing that decision.”
Recent figures revealed that there are 15,000 alcohol related deaths a year in England and emergency services say they spend too much time dealing with late-night violence fuelled by alcohol.