Moor Larkin

There was a lady on Radio 5 at the weekend who lost her temper with some kids on bikes who thought it great fun to ride across the flower bed of her local war memorial. She 'clipped the ear' of one of them. She has been told to report to her local police station for 'formal arrest and cautioning' in the new year. The reporter who interviewed her over the 'phone said Radio 5 would try and follow her story.

I felt demoralised when I heard what the woman is being put through. I wish I hadn't listened to the radio and then I wouldn't have had to know it was happening.

christoph404

Yes, thats all very well depicted in the film "Hot Fuzz".... Unfortunatley for me my local neighbourhood is Central London so world events tend to keep me on my toes. Ironically I got stuck at Heathrow earlier in the year on a trip back to Scotland to escape the tensions of London for a while but Glasgow airport was closed that day....no need to say why!

smiffy

I Don't think buying a paper or watching the news will stop you getting mugged ,or being shot dead on the tube ,or being killed by a suicide bomber , or many other things unless they are going to tell us where and when these events will happen will they ?

I May be getting older ,but I refuse to grow up

Harleybloke

I think that in general, the Country has 'lost its bottle'. I don't mean the armed forces either!

I coached colts cricket for my kids and I now manage my daughters rugby team, good they are too!But anyway, back to the post.........

When I say 'Lost its bottle' I mean how anything you try to do, 'Are you insured?',
'Have we done a risk assessment?', 'What are the health and safety implications?', 'Has he had a CRB check done?'. 'No can't do that, if anything goes wrong we'd be sued...........'

How have we let it get to this? How did I survive growing up in the 60s?

No one seems to say 'What the hell, let's just do it!' I mean the kids vandalising a war memorial, and she gets tabbed??? All our politicans are gutless, small wonder no one votes anymore!

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

Wolfgang

I think it is more to do with your greed than losing your bottle. If someone even so much as falls over on your property or premises you get sued these days. Health and Safety regulations and risk assessments are just responding to that I guess, so this mess cannot be laid solely at feet of politicians. Great Britain is going like America, but I suppose if you do not want your country to go like this then do not sue over clear accidents unless there is obvious negligence.

christoph404

Probably not, but I would rather be aware of potential danger than not, so if I saw an abondoned suitcase on the tube what would I do? because I read the newspapers occasionaly and watch the news I would be thinking it could be a potential threat or a bomb or whatever so I would quickly alert the authorities. Someone who is oblivious to world events would not be much help in that situation I guess. Also reading in the Evening Standard about various muggings and even random murder outside certain tube stations late at night is usefull information to have because then you can make a considered choice whether you would want to find yourself exiting certain tube stations beyond a certain hour in the evening or getting a cab. Im speaking from personal experience here as I live and work in Central London, and awful as it is to have to consider those things that is the harsh reality of living in a major city like London which is considered a target for all manner of things.

Number2

Sometimes I miss living in England and other times after seeing this story about the drunkards on New Year's Eve - I don't.

Ambulance service receives emergency call every 8 seconds as Binge Britain welcomes in 2008 | the Daily Mail

On the other hand I spent my New Year's Eve in San Antonio, TX with 250,000 others and it was a lot safer and I must say better dressed.
MySA.com: Metro | State

MarcMorris

The Daily Mail is the last newspaper you should rely on for an unbiased view of the UK.

Nucleus Films:
DVD Releasing + Extras Production

Number2

I know, its like the printed version of the nightly murder and mayhem newscast on TV - only more sensationalized.

DB7

It's not a big problem in the grand scheme of things. In time the government will probably decide the change in drinking hours hasn't brought about the change in drinking culture they'd hoped and revert back.

Moor Larkin

It's the fact that for so many generations we had those stupid laws that has led to this 'drinking culture' that the present generations will hopefully wean themselves away from. For a country that rightly prides itself on battling against, and defeating, authoritarian regimes outside our borders we seem remarkably set on being authoritarian with our own selves. Time we grew up and became adults instead of relying on Nanny to wipe our collective noses.

Wolfgang

Great Britain still has some way to go before it catches up with other European countries that treats its citizens as people able to make rational decisions for themselves. Do you think you will see age of consent come down to 14 and be allowed to marry your half sister in our lifetimes?

Freddy

Twenty or 30 years ago going out with friends and girlfriends meant going to an pub and drinking pints or halfs of bitter/lager. Some girls drank wine but I can never remember anyone drinking shorts simply because it didn't last as long as a pint.
Alcohol these days seems to be of far greater strength and mixed with juices which can hide the taste of the actual spirit. This and strong lager seems to be many peoples tipple these days. Far more potent than drinking the same number of pints etc.

Also, and I can only speak of Liverpool here, when traditional shops closed in the suburbs and shopping centres they were taken over by estate agents, opticians etc. However latterly since the drinking laws have changed many empty shops have now become small bars or bistros. Also as the city centre offices in architecturally wonderful old buidings have moved to modern central heated places their former addresses have been taken by more bars and restaurants etc. The positive aspect is that they are maintaining the old interesting places and keeping life in the city centres. The negative aspect is there for all the news cameras.

As Moor Larkin says hopefully there will be a gradual drift away from the binge
culture. Perhaps we need to make coffee bars more profitable?

Freddy

dremble wedge

It's also the fact that 24 hour drinking although enshrined in law doesn't really exist.

A couple of pubs I frequent have extended their closing times at the weekends to 12 or 1 but the majority still stick to 11 most of the time and the more popular bars/clubs mostly still shut at 2.

It's still ingrained in drinking culture to go out about 7-ish and then imbibe furiously until closing time. The idea of 24 hour drinking was to extend/stagger the closing times but it hasn't worked because the majority of licencees have stuck to the old formula.

And binge drinking is hardly a new phenomenon on these shores is it?

penfold

Neither is drug taking...it's just it used to be legal. Back before the last century with the bright young things with their coke parties and largely ex-army morphine addicts, Heroin (note the capital, it's a trademark) was being marketed as a non-addictive painkiller and nerve tonic...back before then into the previous century, Britain was awash with perfectly legal morphiates. A pharmacist in Ely sold three hundredweight of opium a year in the 1850's.....

Bit of a Bay Window, what??