Via the Evening Standard comes this:
Young adults will be banned from buying alcohol in shops under a scheme being backed by Mayor Boris Johnson.
Off-licence owners are to be asked to stop selling drink to under-21s, even though they are legally entitled to buy it at 18.
The voluntary scheme will start in Croydon and is likely to be rolled out across London.
Mr Johnson said that it was the type of solution that Londoners would welcome to the “huge problem” of binge-drinking by the young.
It’s not an outright, blanket ban. It is an attempt by the state to encourage shops to discriminate against a minority. 18-21 year olds are adults with full legal responsibilities, who pay taxes. And yet BoJo wants to them to be judged on a factor entirely beyond their control - their age.
So, he wants to treat some adults like children - and expects it to work. 18 to 21 year olds have been drinking for as long as anyone can remember and show no desire to stop. They’ll simply obtain alcohol without the (entirely unnecessary) consent of the state, and beyond any attempts of real regulation. It’ll simply disappear underground, rather than disappear.
And this all from a man who claims to have a regard for liberty? He’s picked a minority whose electoral noise rarely extends beyond facebook groups (which have already started), and attacked them for populism’s sake. Very liberal.
Tags: 11 Comments
11 responses so far ↓
Just takes one shop to opt out of the voluntary scheme to make the whole thing a non-starter. Ridiculous.
My own piece on this proposal was going to run no further than “piss off, Boris”, so it’s good that you got there first.
We should call out David Davis on this one.
Davis probably thinks we should all be hung….
That is absolutely outrageous. What would the Bullingdon Club make of that?
I’m sure the Bullingdon Club will see the light and introduce a voluntary ban on drinking for its members up to the age of 21 out of solidarity with their eminent Old Boy.
Anyway, I’m off to open a ’screw you, Boris’ off-licence in Croydon. With a Conservative administration in town I’m sure they’ll approve of me exploiting this obvious business opportunity. Perhaps I’ll call it the Bullingdon.
“Davis probably thinks we should all be hung….”
You’ll have to ask the missus, I couldn’t possibly comment…
Oh my god this is political correctness nanny state gone mad
I think the great thing about Boris being Mayor, is that after 11 years of New Labour rule, as proxy Tories, I am reminded how awful the real Tories are.
Not that I’d vote for either.
With the introduction of anti-age discriminiation isn’t this “initiative” err … illegal?
Luckily crack will still be available for children of all ages from many street corner vendors.
Actually I don’t think this is illegal on anti-age grounds; a shopkeeper must have the right not to trade if he doesn’t want to, after all. There are all sorts of other reasons why it’s a bad idea, starting with ‘it won’t bloody work’.
Tescos, where I’ve just spent a pleasant hour, asks for ID of anyone who looks under 21. Just thought I’d mention it - obviously in Borisworld shopkeepers automatically know the difference between 20 and 21 year olds.
I’m 22, but any shop that doesn’t sell to 18-21s won’t be getting my business.