Daytime drinking banned in Welsh Assembly
Assembly Members will not able to order wine before 6pm
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Your support makes all the difference.Members of the Welsh Assembly are no longer be able to buy any alcohol at the Senedd before 6pm, following a ban by officials.
Since the Senedd was established in 1999, Assembly Members (AMs) have been permitted to order alcoholic drinks, such as wine, in private tea rooms.
But officials have emailed AMs alerting them that they will no longer be able to purchase alcohol at the Welsh Assembly in the daytime.
Assembly chief executive and clerk Claire Clancy, wrote: “I am emailing to make you aware that new arrangements are being introduced for the serving of alcohol with effect from today.
"No alcohol for consumption on the Assembly estate will be sold or served by our licensees before 6pm during the week in term time."
Officials have stressed that the ban was put in place following “consultation” with all four parties represented in the Assembly: Plaid Cymru, Welsh Labour, the Welsh Conservatives, and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
But one AM, who did not want to be identified, called the move “stupid”.
He or she told reporters: "It's a bit of a stupid thing to do because issuing this ban gives the impression there's a drinking culture at the Assembly when there isn't.
"Our tea rooms are more of a canteen where you can have a glass of wine with your meal.
"It's not even a proper bar like ones MPs have access to in the House of Commons.
"Surely, as grown adults we should have the choice to have an alcoholic drink at lunchtime if we want to or not."
The ban comes after claims that Conservative AM Nick Ramsay was drunk in the assembly chamber, when his speech appeared slurred. A member of the public complained about Mr Ramsay’s behaviour, but the AM strongly denied claims he was inebriated. An assembly spokesman said later that no further action would be taken following a thorough investigation into the claims, BBC News reported.
And in 2012, Plaid Cymru Welsh Assembly member Bethan Jenkins was arrested for drink-driving but was not charged.
Not explaining whether a specific incident lead to the ban, a National Assembly for Wales spokesman said in a statement: “We find it hard to comprehend that at a time when there are so many serious issues facing Wales, and its National Assembly, that this has become the focus of attention.
“As a major Welsh public event venue the National Assembly for Wales’s premises are licensed.
“As with most organisations where important decisions are being made, and following discussions with party leaders, we no longer allow our licensees to serve alcohol before 6pm during the working week,” he added.
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