Barlow's brief

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Booze issue is cultutre, not cost

Vic Barlow
19/ 3/2008

I DON’T really understand the uproar about cheap alcohol. You can buy a standard bottle of Budweiser for 20p in many US supermarkets and you don’t find hordes of drunken yobs wandering the streets.

Anti-social behaviour isn’t about cost, it’s about culture and what society is and is not prepared to tolerate. Gangs of drunken louts would simply not be allowed on the streets of most US towns, neither police nor residents would accept it.

The standard US response to drunken violence is a night in jail followed by a swift court appearance. No wonder kids in Britain laugh at the prospect of having their booze taken away.

Residents are a lot more vocal in the States and, as they appoint their own chief of police, he MUST respond to their needs. I cannot imagine any US town tolerating the abusive, drunken behaviour I see every day around Macclesfield and Wilmslow.

We have to be a lot more vocal about what we are prepared to accept if we want to rid the streets of drunken gangs. Hiding behind closed doors and complaining isn’t working.

The views on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express


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Most recent 2 of 35 user comments

   I agree it is the booze culture that is the trouble, and as the originator says, not the cost.

The licensing trade helped by the government have created a monster
A Patriot
2/04/2008 at 00:40
   SC - how did you find your weekend back in the "mothertown", did you manage to get around what with all the drunk pregnant mouthy youths everywhere?

Hope you had a good time.

slinkywizard, Macclesfield
31/03/2008 at 13:38
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