Young Persons (Alcohol Abuse) Etc. (Hansard, 26 March 1991)

§ Mr. Jimmy Hood (Clydesdale)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make illegal: the consumption of alcohol by young presons under the age of 18 years, and the permitting of such consumption; to empower local authorities to prohibit consumption of alcohol in designated areas; and for connected purposes. This is the third Bill that I have presented to Parliament seeking to solve the serious social problems caused by alcohol abuse, especially among young children. For too long, society and Parliament have ignored the problem. My previous Bill sought to restrict the sale of alcohol to young persons in supermarkets and off-sale outlets. I managed to get the Bill through all its stages in the House but, unfortunately, it ran out of time in another place, where a few Lords and Baronesses chose to kill it for reasons better known to themselves and to the retail consortium that lobbied them to do so.

Clydesdale is one of the largest constituencies in the United Kingdom. It is a good example of "big is beautiful". Thirty miles of the River Clyde run through it, and we have scenery that would rival any part of the world. However, we also have a blight, which affects not only Clydesdale but can be found in any part of the United Kingdom. It concerns young children—often victims of alcohol abuse—walking our streets and falling victim to alcoholism. Inevitably, they fall into criminality which can, all too often, easily include drug abuse.

I first became aware of the problem through my surgery work when an elderly woman came to see me and said that she was frightened to go out of her home after 6 pm. Gangs of drunken youths were terrorising her little housing estate, and pensioners were prisoners in their own homes. I then researched the problem of alcohol abuse, particularly the under-age problem, and was alarmed by my findings.

First, let me explain what I mean by under-age drinking. I am not just talking about the sly pint of beer or half-pint of lager that is drunk in the back room of a pub or disco by 16 and 17-year-olds. Rather, I am talking about the 12 to 13-year-old girls and boys who become hooked on hard booze and stalk the streets at night getting involved in petty social misbehaviour and progressing to serious alcohol-dependent problems that inevitably lead to serious crimes.

A constituent came to see me, breaking her heart about her 16-year-old son who was a high achiever at school and was set for university. He became trapped in a web of alcohol abuse, dropped out of school and got into trouble with the police. He now faces the serious consequences of missing out on his education, and the legacy of a criminal record—a life wasted, all because of alcohol abuse at a young and tender age.

Throughout the past week, the head teacher of Harelees primary school in my constituency has been phoning and writing to me, and the chairman of the school board has been seeking my help, because the school has been vandalised and has been the subject of arson attacks. Everyone knows that those acts were probably carried out by kids under the influence of alcohol. When I am asked what the police are doing about the problem, regrettably I have to say, "Not enough"—or, in the phrase of the magician Paul Daniels, "Not a lot."

777 Strathclyde police force is the second largest in the United Kingdom; second only to the London Metropolitan force. In 1990, only 68 kids were charged with consuming alcohol under age. Strathclyde covers half of Scotland, but there were only 68 prosecutions for under-age drinking, which would seem to tell us that there is not a problem.

My police division takes in my Clydesdale constituency and the constituencies of my hon. Friends the Members for Hamilton (Mr. Robertson) and for East Kilbride (Mr. Ingram). It covers an area of 700 square miles and has a population of more than 250,000. In 1990, two youngsters were charge with under-age drinking.

I contrast that with the numbers of convictions for other crimes in the Strathclyde police area. My district has the highest levels of offences of being drunk and incapable, for which there were 592 prosecutions. For petty assaults there were 18,013 prosecutions, for serious assault there were 300 prosecutions. There were 2,865 prosecutions for thefts of motor vehicles, and for vandalism there were a breathtaking 3,634. Everyone knows that all those crimes are largely alcohol-related, either directly or indirectly, but the figures do not show the number of convictions in each category involving young boys and girls. The fact that those statistics are not kept says more about the apathy of society towards the problem.

The question that I am repeatedly asked is why, if society deems it bad for children to drink alcohol in pubs and other licensed premises, the law turns a blind eye to them drinking outside the pub door, in our streets and play parks. I do not say that prohibition is an easy option—it is not. I do not kid myself that making it an offence to drink under the age of 18 will make the problem go away.

778 Education is important, but we must legislate to address the problem, and back it up with education on the dangers of alcohol and the need for a sensible approach towards introducing teenagers to responsible drinking within social disciplines.

I have seen too many lives wasted, too many families broken up and too many communities terrorised because of drink. The Bill attempts to save hundreds of thousands of young lives of kids who will achieve better things for themselves. It will provide freedom from the evils of alcohol abuse. Alcoholism does not respect social boundaries. The Bill is an important measure to help pull young people back from the abyss of despair. It will give councils the powers to designate non-drinking areas, take alcohol off the streets and out of our children's play areas. Pensioners will feel safer in their homes and children will be able to play in the streets and play parks. The Bill seeks to take alcoholism off the street. It will help both the abuser and the abused, and I commend it to the House.