ACS Responds to Brown Speech
25 Sep 2007
ACS, the campaigning voice of 33,000 local shops, has responded to Gordon Brown’s speech at the Labour party conference.
Mr Brown, in his first party conference speech as Prime Minister, pledged to tackle binge and underage drinking through revoking the licenses of shops who “repeatedly sell alcohol to those who are underage”.
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “There has never been a tougher set of penalties available to Police and local authorities to punish retailers who sell to those under age. The Prime Minister’s comments are therefore disappointing because we need new approaches to tackling under age drinking and the only way to combat this problem is tackle both supply and demand.
“In particular, the Government needs to promote educating young people on the dangers of drinking and have enforcements against those young people who break the law by deceiving and intimidating retailers to obtain alcohol.
“It is also disappointing that the Prime Minister’s comments give no credit to the vast improvement in our sector’s performance in test purchasing campaigns. Far from being singled out for criticism, shops should be praised for leading the way in promoting the Challenge 21 message and preventing under age purchases.”
Contact:
Shane Brennan Public Affairs and Communications Manager
ACS
01252 515001 / 07921 372978
Rachel Lawson Communications Co-ordinator
ACS
01252 515001
Michael Saxton Grappa
020 7602 9222
Notes to Editors:
1. ACS is the convenience store champion, helping local shops thrive through lobbying, insight, information and commercial services.
2. ACS is a leader on responsible retailing issues and fully supports the No ID NO Sale and Challenge 21 campaigns. For free point of sale and other materials retailers can contact CitizenCard on 0870 900 9930.
3. Test purchase figures for Summer 2006 show a failure rate of 29% for the on- trade and 21% for the off- trade.
Mr Brown, in his first party conference speech as Prime Minister, pledged to tackle binge and underage drinking through revoking the licenses of shops who “repeatedly sell alcohol to those who are underage”.
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “There has never been a tougher set of penalties available to Police and local authorities to punish retailers who sell to those under age. The Prime Minister’s comments are therefore disappointing because we need new approaches to tackling under age drinking and the only way to combat this problem is tackle both supply and demand.
“In particular, the Government needs to promote educating young people on the dangers of drinking and have enforcements against those young people who break the law by deceiving and intimidating retailers to obtain alcohol.
“It is also disappointing that the Prime Minister’s comments give no credit to the vast improvement in our sector’s performance in test purchasing campaigns. Far from being singled out for criticism, shops should be praised for leading the way in promoting the Challenge 21 message and preventing under age purchases.”
Contact:
Shane Brennan Public Affairs and Communications Manager
ACS
01252 515001 / 07921 372978
Rachel Lawson Communications Co-ordinator
ACS
01252 515001
Michael Saxton Grappa
020 7602 9222
Notes to Editors:
1. ACS is the convenience store champion, helping local shops thrive through lobbying, insight, information and commercial services.
2. ACS is a leader on responsible retailing issues and fully supports the No ID NO Sale and Challenge 21 campaigns. For free point of sale and other materials retailers can contact CitizenCard on 0870 900 9930.
3. Test purchase figures for Summer 2006 show a failure rate of 29% for the on- trade and 21% for the off- trade.