Tougher drinking law in Scotland from this week.

[spike7451]

As from this week,2-4-1 happy hours & cheap drink will become history in Scotland....

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/123698/-Same-again-or-a-glass-of-water-

Bar staff will have to offer a glass of water instead of alcohol

RETAILERS have warned of confusion and chaos over new drinks laws which come into force on Tuesday.

Days before the biggest change in decades to alcohol licensing, the Scottish Government has been accused of doing too little to inform the public. Industry leaders say they are seeking last-minute “clarification” over the legality of offers like three bottles of wine for £10.

The 2005 Licensing (Scotland) Act is a complete overhaul of the licence system.

From next week, no alcohol can be sold in shops before 10am, a curb retailers say could inconvenience shift workers and those who shop when stores are quiet.

Under the new laws, bar staff in Edinburgh say they have been banned from asking customers if they’d like the “same again” – and told to offer a glass of water instead.

While the city council insists it has still not decided how to interpret many aspects of the new legislation, mandatory training courses for bar staff are already under way. Some who have been on the courses say that, as well as being told not to offer customers the “same again” so as not to encourage heavy drinking, they have been advised to always offer a glass of water.

One who had been on the training course said: “Some of the things we have to do are completely ridiculous, like not asking folk if they’d like the same again.”

The new rules ban “irresponsible” promotions in pubs and clubs, while supermarkets and shops can only display alcohol in specific areas.

Scottish Retail Consortium director Ian Shearer said: “These changes could prove a recipe for confusion and inconsistency.

“There have to be clear assurances that enforcement bodies will take a sympathetic, common-sense approach. Mr Shearer said current “guidance” suggested the new legislation was not intended to apply to promotions in shops.

But he claimed retailers “cannot face the chaos of disparities and unpredictability in the way different local licensing authorities apply the act.”

However, consumers are expected to welcome the extension to licensing hours on a Sunday, which allows alcohol to be bought from 10am for the first time.

 

[Semper_Flexibilis]

Jocklands turning into a proper little Communist state, isn't it?

 

[Civilian]

No more drinking jollies to Scotland then.
This will hit the pubs & clubs big time!!

 

[mistersoft]

From next week, no alcohol can be sold in shops before 10am, a curb retailers say could inconvenience shift workers and those who shop when stores are quiet.

Not very fair. They are forcing people into taking late breakfasts.

 

[chocolate_frog]

So how does it affect the person popping out for the weekly big shop at 0900hrs?

And what about these "irresponsible" offers of 3 bottles of wine for £10? Or discounts for "nearly" out of date stock? Happy hours are now outlawed I take it?

Yet again idiots have been allowed to legislate.

Instead of Nannying about, how about tougher sanctions on the be1l end5 who can't be trusted? ie "You're p1ssed and behaving like a twat, sir. Take a mandatory 48 hours in the drunk tank, the magistrate will see you tommorrow morning".

Works in Holland, where a one week to one month jail sentance can be handed out (on a Saturday or Sunday morning) to little miscreants who have upset the Cloggie Polizei. They don't even get to go home to grab their toothbrush

 

[maguire]

'Under the new laws, bar staff in Edinburgh say they have been banned from asking customers if they’d like the “same again” – and told to offer a glass of water instead.'

ffs... I've been managing bars on and off now for over a decade, from everywhere to five star hotels to festivals, and thats one of THE dumbest things I've ever heard.

I predict pubs in scotland will be ringing with cries of 'of course I dont want a f*&%ing glass of water' very shortly...

 

[cbgramc]

The only ones who will be unaffected will be meths swilling alkies and gangs of under age drinkers who historically don’t know there are two 10 O’clock in a normal day, and will still get their Bucky at 18:00hrs when their drink fuelled rage is again vented on the hard working decent people who can’t afford to go to the pub any more.

 

[Idrach]

So how does it affect the person popping out for the weekly big shop at 0900hrs?

It's going to wreck my "at Sainsbury for 8 and Majestic for 9" on a Saturday, certainly.

 

[Semper_Flexibilis]

Works in Holland, where a one week to one month jail sentance can be handed out (on a Saturday or Sunday morning) to little miscreants who have upset the Cloggie Polizei. They don't even get to go home to grab their toothbrush

Bit of a problem there, the Cloggie Plod, like most EuroPlod are expected to keep the streets safe and free of drunken thugs. Our plod are fully occupied dealing with the deadly threat of motorists, which Liebour assures me are the biggest threat to life, limb and public order in the UK.

 

[chocolate_frog]

Bit of a problem there, the Cloggie Plod, like most EuroPlod are expected to keep the streets safe and free of drunken thugs. Our plod are fully occupied dealing with the deadly threat of motorists, which Liebour assures me are the biggest threat to life, limb and public order in the UK.

True, and of course your average EuroPC is also backed up in court and by their superiors.

ie if a EuroPC says you were "acting like a cnut" then you were, and the nightstick round your head was the result.

As I am sure many a drunken British squaddie fresh on the continent has learned... probably quickly

 

[tomthetinker]

Will there also be a ban on shoplifting alcohol before 10 AM?

Just more stupid laws that will inconvenience ordinary people and be ignored by those who are already doing the damage.

 

[mon_colonel]

The outcome will be more pubs closing down, more people getting p*ssed at home, not gonna change anything at all.

 

[spike7451]

Anyone else find it quite strange in that this law is being passed in the home country of our illustrious one eyed leader?...

 

[C.C.C]

don't sh*t on your own doorstep gordon.

is it true that in remote parts of scotland they take you out to the carpark and put you inside a big wooden chap and set it alight.....

i think there should be another remake of the wicker man starring mr brown.

 

[mon_colonel]

Anyone else find it quite strange in that this law is being passed in the home country of our illustrious one eyed leader?...

Not at all ...and how long before its introduced into England ? theres already talk of a smoking licence purchased yearly from the post office and on the spot fines for any smoker caught without one.
Say what you like about our European cousins but not one takes a blind bit of notice of the smoking bans in France, Spain etc still see smokers lightening up in pubs and bars, while in the UK we meekly accept any sh1t thrown at us...

 

[Bell206]

Great the bar staff asking if you want a water, "Yeah mate I'll have the water! just a drop with a double whiskey and a bit of ice too! cheers!
These rules are stupid and will not stop any alcohol abuse anywhere.

 

[Werewolf]

Bit of a problem there, the Cloggie Plod, like most EuroPlod are expected to keep the streets safe and free of drunken thugs. Our plod are fully occupied dealing with the deadly threat of motorists, which Liebour assures me are the biggest threat to life, limb and public order in the UK.

True, and of course your average EuroPC is also backed up in court and by their superiors.

ie if a EuroPC says you were "acting like a cnut" then you were, and the nightstick round your head was the result.

As I am sure many a drunken British squaddie fresh on the continent has learned... probably quickly

Very good point. ZANU-Labour tried to introduce a "Continental" style of drinking, with punters enjoying a glass of wine outside in the sun. Doomed to failure, of course, for several reasons. One of which is, as you pointed out, a lack of dedicated heavy-mobs like they have in France and Germany.

What happens in the average British city centre during Saturday and Sunday nights/mornings would result in the CRS steaming in and clubbing everything that moved(and stamping on anything that DID'NT move!)if it were replicated in Paris.

 

[Semper_Flexibilis]

Anyone else find it quite strange in that this law is being passed in the home country of our illustrious one eyed leader?...

Not at all ...and how long before its introduced into England ? theres already talk of a smoking licence purchased yearly from the post office and on the spot fines for any smoker caught without one.
Say what you like about our European cousins but not one takes a blind bit of notice of the smoking bans in France, Spain etc still see smokers lightening up in pubs and bars, while in the UK we meekly accept any sh1t thrown at us...

You've got to be shitting me!

 

[Agent_Smith]

No more drinking jollies to Scotland then.
This will hit the pubs & clubs big time!!

So what?

Having lived in Scotland for 27yrs, the nations addiction (and that's what it is!) to alcohol is unhealthy and unsustainable.

Cheap drinks and nights out are great, but they come with a price. The highest levels of cancer, heart disease, and liver disease in Europe, along with some of the most violent streets at weekends. Have any of you ever actually seen how much work the drinks industry actually adds on to the NHS workload at weekends?

At most A&Es in Scotland have around 70-80% of their workload directly attributable to alcohol.

I for one am tired of gangs of neds, and local hardmen getting loaded up on tennent's, bucky, and white lightning. If this has any chance of reducing that, then i'm all for it.

 

[Werewolf]

No more drinking jollies to Scotland then.
This will hit the pubs & clubs big time!!

So what?

Having lived in Scotland for 27yrs, the nations addiction (and that's what it is!) to alcohol is unhealthy and unsustainable.

Cheap drinks and nights out are great, but they come with a price. The highest levels of cancer, heart disease, and liver disease in Europe, along with some of the most violent streets at weekends. Have any of you ever actually seen how much work the drinks industry actually adds on to the NHS workload at weekends?

At most A&Es in Scotland have around 70-80% of their workload directly attributable to alcohol.

I for one am tired of gangs of neds, and local hardmen getting loaded up on tennent's, bucky, and white lightning. If this has any chance of reducing that, then i'm all for it.[/quote]

Totally agree, old boy. Unfortunately, I doubt it will have much impact. Neds will still get drunk and turn large areas of our major cities into no-go areas. The NHS will still have to pick up the pieces every weekend.

The only way to reduce this kind of behaviour is with draconian punishments for alchohol-related crme. And our gub'mint lacks the courage, the funds and the manpower to take that kind of action.

This is a sticking-plaster on a severed artery. A pathetic attempt by ZANU-Labour to be seen to "care".