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| 24-hour drinking law 'will stay' | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The government will not reverse 24-hour licensing laws, but will instead crack down on alcohol sales to the under-18s. | The government will not reverse 24-hour licensing laws, but will instead crack down on alcohol sales to the under-18s. |
| Gordon Brown told the Mirror a new "two strikes" rule for off-licences would be part of a review of the Licensing Act. | |
| He had said he would overturn 24-hour licensing laws if necessary, but told the paper that was not behind violent drunken behaviour among teenagers. | |
| But council bosses in England and Wales say late-night drinking is stretching the police and disrupting communities. | But council bosses in England and Wales say late-night drinking is stretching the police and disrupting communities. |
| Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said the idea that late-night licenses would end binge-drinking had totally failed. | Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said the idea that late-night licenses would end binge-drinking had totally failed. |
| Policing resources are being stretched further into the night Sir Simon Milton | |
| He told the BBC: "The real problem about alcohol violence going later into the night is not simply to do with the clock." | He told the BBC: "The real problem about alcohol violence going later into the night is not simply to do with the clock." |
| "First of all if you are a resident who's disturbed at night and it's three o'clock in the morning, your chances of getting back to sleep after that are much less," he said. | "First of all if you are a resident who's disturbed at night and it's three o'clock in the morning, your chances of getting back to sleep after that are much less," he said. |
| "But also policing resources are being stretched further into the night." | "But also policing resources are being stretched further into the night." |
| Binge drinking | |
| The government is expected to publish its review of the Licensing Act, which introduced 24-hour drinking, later in the week. | The government is expected to publish its review of the Licensing Act, which introduced 24-hour drinking, later in the week. |
| Mr Brown announced a review of the Licensing Act, which allowed pubs and clubs to apply for later - or even 24-hour licenses - shortly after becoming prime minister, in June last year. | |
| It was one of several reviews of existing policies - including allowing a super-casino in Manchester, which has since been scrapped, and the decision to downgrade cannabis. | |
| 'Two strikes' | |
| Mr Brown told the Labour conference last September that binge drinking was "unacceptable" and he would "not hesitate to change policies" if he thought it necessary. | |
| The results of a series of reviews of the drinking laws are due out this week and ahead of its publication Mr Brown said it would include a "two strikes and you're out" rule for off licenses caught selling alcohol to people under 18. | |
| He said violent drunken behaviour was being fuelled by cheap alcohol drunk on the street, bought from shops and rogue off-licences. | |
| Government figures published last November suggested 500 pubs and clubs had been granted 24-hour licences since the laws were introduced. | |
| But the government said the "vast majority" of 24-hour licences went to hotels, which only serve to their guests. | |
| Ministers have said the evidence so far suggests there had been no overall increase in violent drink-related crime since the new laws came into force. | |
| However they have said it that some of it now happened later into the night than in the past. |