i Editor's Letter: We have to change our culture
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It’s good to have our i back, isn’t it? That said, as part of our daily effort to prove quality papers aren’t “brown”, I am probably going to antagonise a good many of you.
You see, I agree with David Cameron. Yesterday, the PM said the Government wanted to reverse a drinking culture that last year contributed to a million violent crimes and 1.2 million hospital admissions. “Binge drinking isn't some fringe issue,” he argued. “It accounts for half of all alcohol consumed in this country. The crime and violence it causes drains resources in our hospitals, generates mayhem on our streets and spreads fear in our communities.”
Worse, for some of you, I also agree with Theresa May. “Too many people think it's a great night out to get really drunk and have a fight in our streets,” she told the BBC. May argued that the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol of say 40p would affect the cheapest fifth of booze sold (I paraphrase). Sounds sensible. But I know, having written about drinking before, that some i readers disagree, believing this amounts to a tax on the poor. To me, that’s patronising. It suggests that the poor have such miserable lives that they have a “human right” to get “mortal” on a Friday or Saturday night, no matter what cost to themselves or the rest of society. What cost? Have you ever been in A&E on a weekend night? The eighth circle of hell.
We have to change our culture. We need to stop judging the success of a night out by how “slaughtered” we get, and learn not to “pre-load” before we even leave the house. We all have a duty to each other – poorer people too. This is not a nanny state, this is a responsible society.
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