Alcohol-related violence in UK has reduced since 24-hour licensing law started

Ten years since drinking establishments in the UK were allowed to apply for 24-hour licenses, it turns out alcohol-related violence and binge drinking stats have reduced.

The Labour government introduced the laws in 2005 and a recent report compiled by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) shows drink-fueled violence has dropped by 40 per cent, with booze consumption per person down by 17 per cent.

Excessive drinking has decreased significantly, too, with the number of 16 to 24-year-olds doing so falling from 29 per cent to 18 per cent in the ten years since the Licensing Act 2003 came into play.

Labour's shadow health secretary Andy Burnham criticised the Act a few weeks ago, but Christopher Snowdon, who worked on the IEA report, says the statistics speak for themselves.

"The hysteria about so-called 24-hour drinking ranks as one of the great moral panics of our time, but the evidence is now clear: the doom-mongers were wrong. The biggest consequence of relaxing licensing laws has been that the public are now better able to enjoy a drink at the time and location of their choice."

However, he did say there's no way to prove the Act led to the reduction in binging and crime, but "certainly did not worsen them".

[ Via: Telegraph]