What happened to the continental drinking culture?

After one year, carefully choosing starting and ending dates, the Government tried to convince us that 24-hour drinking culture had resulted in better behaviour. Was anyone really convinced by the spin?

The opposite was the case, as is now becoming clear, after four years. A week ago the Daily Telegraph published figures, from data collected via the Freedom of Information Act. They obtained information from 35 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales. The picture is common among them all.

In the year to April 2008 161,431 penalty notices for disorderly behaviour, - excessive drinking, urinating, vomiting, shouting abuse and damaging property were issued, requiring fines of between £50 and £80, depending on the severity of the offence.

The comparable figure for 2004-05, the last full year before the law became active in December 2005, was 68,342. The police are emphatic that alcohol plays a very large part in the disorderly behaviour during the night.

The police are at pains to point out that it is possible that offending is no greater in total, but whereas officers could be numerous in the period 10.30 to 11.30 in the evening, they are more thinly present through the long hours of the night.

There is a further unsought consequence of all this. The need to deploy large numbers of officers during the night means that there are necessarily fewer available during the day for regular policing duties.

It may not be possible to return to where we were before December 2005, by repealing the legislation, but the Government should (but won't) have the grace to admit that they got it wrong.