- A pressure group has called for a Scottish Parliament inquiry into alcohol-related health problems. The move comes a month after Health Minister Andy Kerr announced a strategy for tackling alcohol abuse. Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) is particularly worried about low-cost drink promotions in supermarkets and off-licences.
The group will present a petition to the parliament on Tuesday and will publish its parliamentary manifesto. The organisation wants the health and community care committee to lead an inquiry into Scotland's alcohol problems. It wants the Scottish Executive to look at extending the promotions mechanism in the Licensing (Scotland) Act to cover supermarkets, off-licences and shops as a means of preventing the low-cost promotion and sale of alcohol. BBC News
- Persistent drunken troublemakers would be subjected to weekend "stay-at-home" curfews in Edinburgh under plans being drawn up by Labour councillors ahead of May's local elections. Council wardens and police officers would be charged with keeping track of the offenders in the first instance by simply telephoning them at home.
The move is to be a key manifesto commitment in the city as part of local Labour plans to curb antisocial behaviour. But opposition politicians today condemned the plans as further evidence of a creeping "nanny state" culture and cast doubt on whether they would ever see the light of day. Under the plans, special antisocial behaviour orders would be sought in court, which senior councillors believe judges would agree to without the need for further legislation or anyone being electronically tagged. Anyone caught breaking one of the court orders would face being jailed. Scotsman
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