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From the Saturday Observer, 5 April 2008.
PUB'S FURY AT CRAZY EU LAW
Harassment rules 'outlaw common sense', say Landlords
By CHRIS MURPHY
PINT PLEASE: Bar staff could claim damages if their
dignity is "violated" due to their sex.
NEW laws coming into force tomorrow to protect workers from being
sexually harassed by customers have been slammed by pub landlords as
"political correctness gone mad". Godfrey Page, from Dover, is the
chairman of tile Guild of Master V ietuallers, which represents 400 pubs
nationally - 00 which about half are in Kent Mr Page is dismayed at the
introduction of "subjected to any conduct related to their sex, which
violates their dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading,
humiliating or offensive environment".
Mr Page said: "Most of the time, I think the bar staff themselves are
able to handle situations if they look like going too far by putting
down the awkward customer - often to the mirth of their friends.
"It is just silly to suggest barmaids need any more protection - they
do a brilliant job at keeping the peace and ensuring everything works as
it should.
"They are the best-placed person to deal with problems, and if they
can't, the landlords can."
It is feared landlords will bear the brunt of any fines for
compensation claims from the new sex discrimination laws.
Andrew Aves, from Canterbury, is the Kent regional organiser for the
Federation of Small Businesses.
He said: "Who dreams this stuff up - which planet do they come from?
"This is political correctness gone mad, it is a complete and total
lack of reality."
Mr Aves added: "The pub is a popular place for people to relax and
enjoy themselves. Any responsible landlord will look after their staff
and not tolerate improper behaviour.
"One tiling that you are not allowed to have these days is common
sense - it seems to be totally outlawed."
Stuart ChamberIain, an employment law specialist at London-based
Consult GEE, suggested that landlords would put up warning signs.
The Government's Commission for Equality and Human Rights said it
would monitor the enforcement of the laws. A spokesman told the Saturday
Observer: "When employers know harassment is going on they are in a
position to do something about it."
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From the Kent on Sunday, 6 April, 2008.
Alcohol control zone to deal with drunks.
By James Alexandre
ON THE TILES: Officials hope the street-drinking ban
will stop irresponsible behaviour.
AN ALCOHOL control zone is being piloted in Sittingbourne town centre in a bid to
reduce antisocial behaviour. Neighbouring Medway
council has imposed a blanket ban on drinking in Chatham and Rochester
high streets.
But the new scheme in Sittingbourne leaves it up to
police, wardens and community support officers to confiscate
alcohol from those behaving irresponsible.
The initiative has the
support of councillors and local landlords, and if successful could be
extended across the rest of Swale.
Cllr John Wright, who says the
idea was raised by a resident, insists the new control
zone will reduce loutish behaviour and will
not discriminate against law-abiding citizens.
He said:
"It won't target someone who, for example, is feeling the heat and just
drinking a can of beer outside and who isn't drunk."
Instead the new zone will give police the power to take alcohol away
from groups hanging around on street corners or those who decide to
have an "impromptu party" outside, which can be threatening to
passers-by.
Existing evidence suggests controlled zones help to
reduce antisocial behaviour, as has
already been witnessed in Medway, and helps stop underage drinking.
Licensees
who have tables and chairs laid out in the exclusion area
would be free to deal with their own patrons as usual in the event of
any problems.
Michelle Parnell, assistant manager at the Vineyard in
"West Street, is fully in favour of the proposal.
She said: "It makes it
easier for us to manage, so that customers don't wander off outside with a pint in their hand.
"Also we tend to get quite a few people who
come in here holding a bottle of Stella, thinking they're still one of
the lads, so if it means
them not getting drunk before they enter then all the better."
Sittingbourne town centre PC Jason Hedges said: "This is not about
spoiling people's fun but addressing residents' concerns about individuals
drinking in public places.
The current exclusion zone covers the whole of
Sittingbourne town centre, from AIbany Recreation ground to the railway station.
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From the Dover Express, Thursday, 17 April, 2008.
TEEN BOOZE NIGHTMARE
Hundreds of-kids found with alcohol.
Report by Kathy Bailes.
HUNDREDS of boozed-up children have had to be collected from Dover
police station during a campaign to crack down on underage drinking.
Youngsters, some just
11 years old, have been stopped on the streets
as part of the six-week Operation Elusive, launched by Dover police and
the district councils community safety unit in February as part of the
Safer Spring scheme.
Police stopped 858 under-18s and confiscated 434 cans and bottles of
booze. Police say "hundreds" of parents were called to pick up drunk
kids after they were detained at the Ladywell station.
Sergeant Guy Thompson, who heads the Dover Community Safety Unit, said:
"Although this operation has finished we will be working with secondary
schools in the district on alcohol harm education.
"Parents also need to
ensure their children are not getting access to
alcohol at home."
Most of the young people stopped for boozing were aged 14 and 15 and
police say "a significant
portion of
those with
booze were
girls".
The figures
come to light just two weeks after the Express revealed plans by Kent
County Council to take action on alcohol abuse including education for
children and more services for recovering alcoholics.
A report by the North West Public Health Observatory revealed more
than 50 under-18s in Dover had to be taken to hospital in 2006 after
drinking too much alcohol and showed 16 per cent of adults
in the district binge drink.
DDC's portfolio holder for youth services, Julie Rook, said giving
youngsters more to do is the answer but admitted she was shocked by the
figures. She said:
"These are quite worrying. If this is just for six weeks it tells me we
have a bit of a social problem. Although Dover is not as bad as some
areas, confiscating 200 litres
of alcohol is scary.
"We have a culture where alcohol is considered OK. As parents we are not looking at the long-term health
implications of letting our teenagers drink a glass of wine or beer at
dinner with us.
"As a council we are looking at more diversionary activities. Youngsters
want to be social and our youth strategy aims to encourage them into
sporting activities rather than drinking on street corners."
Underage drinking crackdown.
Haul: (From left) pcso Gretel Stevens, Sandro Limentani of the
Primary Health Care Trust, KCC's Don Covus, MP Gwyn Prossa, Sgt Guy
Thompson, Chris Allen of the community safety unit, and PCSO Alison
Borg.
''The strategy will look at activities such as youth, cafes and
discos such as the popular Teen Fusion held in Deal.
Community Safety Officers, police and trading standards also targeted
pubs, clubs and off-licences during the £50,000 operation.
A police spokesman said: "Out of eight test purchase operations one
has led to a prosecution and five will be subject to further visits
after poor practices were highlighted."
Dover kids hit the booze.
Police confiscated 90 bottless of booze in the district in the first
weekend of Operation Elusive. Areas targeted included a 16th
birthday party in the town. One teenager was also arrested for being drunk and
disorderly at Walmer paddling pool.
Beacon Church caretaker Dave Bartlet
spoke to the
Express in February about underage drinkers, some only 13, who
congregated behind the London Road church.
In the same month police
seized booze from gangs of
youths in Ladywell care park, Dover, and Beach Street and Birdwood
Avenue in Deal.
In March a 13-year-old-girl from Aylesham was arrested
after she drunkenly threatened police with an iron bar.
Last week
parishioners at St Finbar's Church, Aylesham, discovered vandals had
pushed over an eight foot oak crucifix in the churchyard. Police say
they want to talk to youths seen drinking in the area on the night it
happened.
Operation Elusive took more than 200 litres of booze away
from youngsters.
• Get help; KDAAT at
www.drugsuk.org.uk or call 0800 776600. Kenward
Trust at www.kenwardtrust.org.uk or call 01622 814187. East Kent
Partnership Alcohol Service on 01227761310.
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From the Dover Mercury, Thursday, 10 April, 2008.
Don't buy drink or tobacco for teens'
ADULTS are being warned they could be in trouble if they buy tobacco or
alcohol for under 18s.
The warning follows an incident in Dover in which a middle-aged woman
was approached by three girls in Ladywell - opposite the police station -
who gave her money to buy cigarettes for
them.
The woman went into the shop, but the incident had raised the suspicions
of a member of the Dover Partnership Against Crime, who broadcast a
message via the Shopwatch radio to warn staff at the shop what was
happening.
Realising she had been seen the woman left the shop without buying the cigarettes and gave the money back to the girls who ran off.
Warnings were then broadcast to other shops in the area to watch out
for the girls.
Shopkeepers are aware that it is an offence to sell
tobacco or alcohol to under 18s, but adults who buy goods on their
behalf may not realise they could also
be fined.
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From the Dover Mercury, Thursday, 17 April, 2008.
CRACKDOWN: Hundreds of cans and bottles are seized.
by Graham Tutthill.
Young people are searched for alcohol.
MORE than 200 litres of alcohol has been seized from under-age drinkers
in Dover district.
During a six-week operation, police stopped and
checked more than 850 young people and seized a total of 434 cans and
bottles.
Contact was made with hundreds of parents of drunk and
vulnerable young people to come to collect their children and many were
advised about the dangers and consequences of their actions.
Officers
from the Community Safety Unit at Dover together with Kent Police and Trading
Standards also completed visits to pubs, clubs and off-licences to check
if sales were being made to under-age youngsters.
Highlighted.
Out of eight test purchase operations carried out, one has led to a
prosecution and five will be subject to further visits after poor
practices were highlighted.
Sgt Guy Thompson, of the Community Safety
Unit, said:
"Although this operation has finished, we will be working
with the secondary schools in the district regarding alcohol harm
education.
"We will also be targeting premises that continue to sell
alcohol to under-age children, and the adults that buy alcohol for young
people as it is an offence to purchase alcohol for a person under 18.
"Parents need to ensure that their children are not getting access to
alcohol at home.
"Officers will also continue to patrol the areas young
people are known to congregate in and drink, and deal with concerns
raised by the community as part of the Safer Spring initiative."
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From the Dover Mercury, Thursday, 1 May, 2008.
In a muddle over drink.
THE case of a supermarket refusing to sell alcohol to an adult because
they were accompanied by an under-age child raises some interesting
issues. No one would dispute the need for vigilance when it comes to selling
booze and cigarettes to children directly, or to adults who are simply,
and illegally, buying it on behalf of teenagers who are waiting outside. But when a family are doing their weekly shop and want to buy a bottle
of wine to drink at home, what are they supposed to do if they have a
child or teenager with them? It's not the cashier's 'fault; he or
she faces prosecution for selling alcohol knowing it could
be consumed by someone under age. This section of the law is a bit of a muddle, and it needs sorting
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From Your Dover, 9 July, 2008.
Is smokless cigarette the pub trade's saviour?
BY TOM BETTS
THEY say there's no smoke without fire - but in this case it's quite the
opposite.
An alternative method of puffing away at the pub has
drifted into the national consciousness and is causing quite a stir in
the industry.
So-called electronic or alternative
cigarettes give users the sensation of smoking, even producing a vapour
that can be inhaled and exhaled while delivering the nicotine hit, but are
legal as no harmful smoke is emitted.
One brand on the market is called the SuperSmoker.
Its Ultimo model, which retails at
around £78, allows smokers to dodge the smoking ban, which has now been
in place for a year.
Inventors say the system helps people lead a healthier lifestyle and
is much cheaper; claiming it can knock 65 per sent off normal smoking
costs.
It is legal to use inside pubs and clubs as it causes no harm to those sharing their air. Cartridges are placed into a pre-charged
atomiser and users suck on it like a normal cigarette.
The firm says it
looks, testes and "smokes" like a conventional cigarette but has no
detrimental health effects on others and doesn't cause cancer.
We asked 58-year-old smoker Graham Bates from Herne Bay to trial the
SuperSmoker Ultimo on a trip to his local.
He said: "I felt a little strange using it. It does have a certain
sensation of smoking but you have to suck pretty hard to get much out and
it leaves a sugary taste on the
lips.
"I used it in the pub and the barman did initially ask me to stop but
I showed him the product, and then he was fine with it. He said he had
seen them before and had no issues with people using them."
Mark Bradley assistant manager of the Prince of Wales pub in Railway
Street, Chatham, said, "I've actually got one of the electronic
cigarettes.
"I went to the London Bar Show last week and they were giving them out.
I think they're brilliant and bought some for my staff.
Sam Griggs, trainee assistant manager of the Druid's Arms in Earl Street, Maidstone,
said: "I
think they're a good idea.
"I've not seen anyone using them in the pub.
We've only got a little garden and it normally gets packed with smokers, so products like this
may become quite popular.
It might cause a bit of conflict, though, as other customers may
think they are real cigarettes.
Graham Moore, landlord of the Duke's Head in Sellindge, said: "I
wouldn't have any objections to them being used here. If they are legal
to see indoors and don't disturb anyone else, then that's fine."
Ian Gray, from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, has
looked into the innovation.
He said: "We have been the evidence to all the regulatory authorities
on this matter and are hearing about it more and more.
"Our main concern was that officers wouldn't be able to tell the
difference, but it is clear if YOU are close to them they are not normal
cigarettes. They are perfectly legal to use because, in our view, this
isn't smoking.
"It is unlikely that a local authority would want to make a
prosecution as the legislation is to protect people from second-hand
smoke.
"If there is no smoke, then there is not really a basis for a
prosecution.
Mr Gray said the device was catching on. "They seem to be using
them a lot in the North. I suppose if you don't want to go outside, it's
a real alternative.
They seem to be particularly popular in bingo halls, especially among
older people who may not want to get up and go outside and all that goes
with that, such as collecting your coat.
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From the Kent on Sunday, 30 November 2008.
Darling tax threat to future of pubs
By STEVE KNIGHT and TONY PATEY
PINT AND A CHAT: The British social institution of the pub is being gradually strangled by unfair tax hikes, claim breweries
LEADING names in Kent's pub industry have accused Chancellor Alistair
Darling of putting the future of the trade at risk.
Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Favershem-based Shepherd Neame,
reacted angrily at plans for an eight per cent hike in alcohol tax and
said It could put hard-working families out of work.
His sentiments were
echoed by the operations director of the Broadstairs-based Thorley
Taverns chain, Phil Thorley who accused Mr Darling of "misunderstanding"
the pub trade.
Mr Neame said the eight per cent rise meant duty had now
risen 17 per rent in 2008. Hopes that VAT cuts from 17.5 per cent to
15 per rent would benefit people running pubs in Kent were dashed, he
said, by the inflation-busting increase in excise on alcohol.
Mr Neame
said: ''This vindictive pre-budget report is an act of gross cultural vandalism, born of
ignorance.
"The Government continues
to-regard the great British pub as a tax-collection point on one hand
and a social problem on the other. They have no regard for the
livelihoods of the thousands of people who work in Kent's pubs, nor
the suppliers who rely on their trade."
The industry faces a further four tax hikes in the next two years and sees the
closure of 35 pubs weekly across the UK.
Mr Neame said: ''There is no good
reason why brewers and publicans should he excluded in such a
spiteful fashion.
"Pubs make an invaluable contribution to the Kent
economy; they serve as a huge attraction to tourists and are the last
bastion of community life.
"This Government's futile attempts to
raise revenue have failed; the nine per cent duty increase at the last
budget has resulted in a £31 million drop in revenue.
"At a time when
unprecedented costs, inflation and the current economic crisis are
threatening the survival of our industry; why is this government intent
in throttling the life out of pubs and the communities they serve?"
Mr
Thorley, whose firm runs 21 pubs in east Kent as well as a number of
clubs, restaurants and function rooms, said the extra taxation was yet
another obstacle for the industry to overcome.
He said: "I think
the pub trade gets a very raw deal. The industry as a whole is blamed for
binge drinking and causing disturbances in towns, even though the majority now buy their
drink cheap at the supermarket before they
even leave the house.
"Mr Darling has shown a complete misunderstanding of the pressures licensees face, and it's only going
to get more difficult.
"He's allegedly trying to help small businesses
but pub owners are going to end up with more tax rather than less.
"The
social meeting place is part of the fabric of British society, and
unless this government does something about it it's going to
disappear."
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