MP's maiden speech slams drink crime strategies (From Western Telegraph)

MP's maiden speech slams drink crime strategies

Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb has warned that the Government is losing the war on binge drink crime.

In his maiden speech in the House of Commons last week, during the debate on the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, he drew on recent experiences with the local police monitoring binge drink 'hotspots' in Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. And he renewed his call for extra police resources to tackle the problem.

Instead of adding further laws and regulations to the statute book, Stephen urged the Government to put more effort into enforcing the many laws that are already in place to control alcohol-related disorder.

During the debate, he tackled the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, on why the number of convictions for being drunk and disorderly has fallen to about half the level of 20 years ago.

He also spoke out about why the sale of alcohol to under 18s through shops and off-licences is not more strongly enforced.

He warned that focusing solely on binge drink crime outside pubs and clubs overlooks the fact that there is an increasing amount of drink-related disorder by youngsters in their early and mid teens.

Stephen highlighted statistics from Alcohol Concern to show that teenage alcohol abuse is increasing at an alarming rate.

Speaking after the debate, he added: "I think the idea of Drink Banning Orders and Dispersal Orders are an irrelevance. We already have legislation for Antisocial Behaviours Orders. But very few ASBOs have been used in Pembrokeshire."

"The proposed Alcohol Disorder Zones are more interesting and I will be discussing this with our local Police and licensees shortly."