Matthew Offord MP - Time for Sharia Law in Hendon?

This morning, as I sobered up after a heavy night of celebrating, following Manchester City winning the FA cup semi final against Manchester United, I was truly gobsmacked to read the latest leaflet from our local MP Matthew Offord. Mr Offord has a "Local Resident Questionairre" on his leaflet. Question 4 is the following :-

Click on Image for more readable version

Do you support a Compulsory Sobriety Scheme to tackle drunkeness and violence?

This was the first I'd heard of such a proposal for Hendon. The only countries where I was aware that Compulsory Sobriety was enforced were those living under Sharia Law, such as Saudi Arabia. Now I think it is no secret that Mr Offord likes a tipple, so what on earth is this all about? I've seen no plans, there is nothing on his website. It seems truly bizarre that he should ask us to support a scheme, which he doesn't mention in the leaflet and he doesn't explain what the implications are.

Does Mr Offord realise that there is already a compulsory Sobriety scheme in place for offenders and lawbreakers? It's called prison. I fully support the concept of locking people up who break the law. Sadly, the Tories are cutting the number of front line Policemen to implement the scheme. I support the idea of giving offenders the opportunity to enroll in schemes to combat alcoholism, in exchange for lighter sentences. I don't support big brother state bossing citizens around against their will.

Drinking alcohol is a fundamental part of our culture. It isn't always done responsibly, but then short of implanting "behaviour regulation chips" in our brains, many things will cause bad behaviour. I suspect that plenty of violence is a direct result of arguments about sexual relationships. Is that the next area to be targetted in Offords drive for Sharia Law in Hendon? If young men were completely segregated from women, forced to only drink water and pray five times a day when the football was on, I'm sure that Hendon would be far calmer place to live. However I personally don't want to live under Sharia Law, where such measures are compulsory. I don't want to live in a country where the state micro manages our lives. I like it here, where we all misbehave from time to time. I'm quite amazed that a Tory MP should even begin to propose such a thing.

I'm quite sure that when the local Tories read this blog they will claim I've misinterpreted what Offord was trying to say. Well, if that's the case, why hasn't he laid out what his scheme entails, why he asked the question and what he wants to see. This strikes me as a crafty attempt to trick people into supporting a scheme which they would totally reject if they were asked if they wanted a "Sharia style ban on drinking alcohol"

Advertising and Alcohol

The BBC reports that the BMA want a ban on the advertising of booze. The reason? because apart from smoking it is the biggest cause of illness and early death. Oh, is it now? Well actually no it isn't. Alcohol doesn't lead you to an early grave or liver failure. This is a scientifically proven fact which the BMA choose to ignore. What leads to an early death & illness is EXCESSIVE drinking, which is a completely different thing. Are they going to ban adverts for cars because driving at excessive speed is the biggest cause of death in the 18-30 age group? The logic is the same. In both cases the behaviour which causes the illness is the problem.

So has advertising ever made me get hammered? Nope, I really don't need much encouragement. Has it made me decide which brand to get hammered on? Nope. Generally if I buy bottled beers for home, we get decent bottled beers, usually German. Why? because they are relatively pure. What would make me cut back on my drinking? Maybe death or serious illness. From this statement, you may get the impression that I'm a total drunk, but no, most of the time I'm pretty restrained. I don't drink lunchtimes as it stops me getting things done. We limit ourselves to a bottle at max a night and I don't drink 2-3 evenings. I do tend to overdo it on Fridays and Saturdays, in the company of friends.

The last medical check I had was pretty good in the liver/blood pressure etc department, although I could lose a couple of stone. There is a lot of talk about advertising of teen targetted alcopops. I don't believe that the advertising changes much, I think it's more to do with spare cash & boredom. If people only did things because of advertising, we wouldn't have millions of people in the country trying illegal drugs.

I suspect that the answer is to mix age groups and family units in pubs. A pub full of 18-25 year olds will be far more prone to wreckless drinking than one with a good mix of ages. The most damaging aspect of human behaviour is peer pressure, a few crusty old boozers in the corner, pouring scorn on drunken youngsters, soon alleviates any peer pressure to emulate them. In fact the worst alcoholic excessess are not in pubs at all, it is cheap supermarket booze on the streets, in homes and in public spaces.

Things like drinks advertising is chosen because it is an easy target. Heaven forbid that they actually try and address the social issues which are the fundamental problem. If you have supermarkets selling own brand, super strength lager for 50p a tin in one town, this will cause more drunk & disorderly behaviour than all of the Martini adverts ever. I guarantee that if a supermarket sells superlager for 50p, they don't need to tell the local wino community, word soon gets out.

Anyone who tells you different either knows nothing about booze culture or why people enjoy getting hammered.

Don't let your daughter get pissed Mrs Jones

A recent study shows that 1 in 3 teenage girls has been the victim of sexual abuse by their boyfriends. Does this surprise me? Nope. Reading the article seems to indicate that being forced into having a snog by your boyfriend may be counted. What is far more serious is the claim that 1 in 16 girls claim to have been raped and 1 in 5 had suffered physical violence.

What the article doesn't say is what part alcohol played in all of this? The article doesn't say, but I'd say it probably plays a massive part. It makes girls more vulnerable and boys more agressive. This country doesn't seem to have mastered the art of drinking sensibly.

I think that part of the reason for this is the way pubs are viciously courting the teenage pound. A pub full of young girls, will be full of boys. There is no thought given to ensuring sensible drinking. In many other european countries, families drink together, the teenagers will be in another part of the bar, but mums and dads are not too far away.

Teenage boys generally only want one thing. Girls. They think that getting pissed is the fastest path to a bit of sex. They'll drink themselves silly and do their damnedest to get the girls pissed as well. They know that this is the best knicker loosener known to man.

If you are a parent and your daughter is coming home pissed, you can be pretty sure as to what the base motivation for this is. I'm not sure what the answer is to the problem, but I'd advise you to not hide your head in the sand. Alcohol is the major cause of teenage deaths in this country, directly or indirectly (through road accidents). One drink never killed anyone, but there are plenty of things to be worried about. If nothing else, I suggest you explain to your daughters exactly why blokes like to buy them drinks. I'd also urge you to make sure they know they can tell you and you won't be cross if bad things happen

Some things are better than money !

Yesterday I found an old tape of my band, The False Dots. It was a "best of" compilation I'd made in 1988 for listening to in the car. It's been at least 10 years, probably longer since I listened to the tape. I thought I'd have a quick listen. Having forgotten completely what was on it, I was shocked when I played the start of the tape. In 1985, we'd done a gig at the Old Bull Art Centre in Barnet. I had a friend who was a talented comedian who had introduced us. The intro was hilarious. I'd put this intro as the opening of the tape. As I listened, I was overcome with sadness. My friend had massive issues with alcohol. He'd started drinking heavily at 14. I had heard that in 1990 he'd committed suicide. I realised that the reason I didn't listen to this tape was because it was just too depressing to hear him & think of the tragic waste.

My friend was 3 years younger than me. His life in some ways had followed mine. We'd both got to know each other as alter servers as kids. He'd followed me to Finchley Catholic High School. He was a highly intelligent and highly articulate kid. He was small for his age but able to verbally better anyone. He had a voice made for comedy and radio. The trouble was that Finchley in the early 1980's wasn't the school for his talents. In year 8, he'd said the wrong thing to the wrong person. He'd ended up in hospital. How did the school deal with it? They told his father that he was an unpopular child and his father could come to hear the pupils explain why. He followed my path from Finchley to Orange Hill School. Shortly after he started drinking. By the time he was 16 he was an alcoholic. I always liked him and tried to encourage him, but his demons were too deep. He moved to Ireland, had a child, came back. He'd try and get his life together, hit the buffers, go back on the drink. He fell off the Mill Hill scene radar. I saw his brother some time in 1990 and he looked distressed. "What's up?" I asked. "My Brother has committed suicide, the priest is on the way to see him". End of conversation. End of listening to that tape. Occasionally I'd find it, play it, put it away, feel sad.

Anyway, I found the tape yesterday. It was bitter sweet listening to it again. There is a line in the intro where he says "This band comes from Mill Hill. Mill Hill is a sleepy place, where everyone goes to bed by 9 O'clock. Well nearly everyone, because this band don't. When you hear them, maybe you'll wish they had" This got a rather big laugh. Memories, some things you can't buy.

Anyway, being a good Catholic lad, I went off to church this evening for the 6pm mass. As I left, I realised that my Uncle was there and I hadn't enquired after my Auntie who is unwell. I turned back and nearly knocked someone over in the process. He looked at me and said "Rog !". I couldn't believe my eyes. In the Catholic year, today is ascention day. The day Jesus departed to heaven. Rather remarkably, my friend who had committed suicide in 1990, was standing in front of me. It seems he'd come the other way ! I really couldn't believe my eyes. He explained that he'd taken a paracetamol overdose. He'd had 90% liver failure, received the last rights from a priest. He was currently off the booze & trying to get his life together. He said that every day since then he'd tried to treat as a blessing. He looked rather well, considering everything. He told me that he edits a newsletter for people with mental health issues. He is going for a job with the BBC as part of a program for people with issues such as his.

I always believed that if he got the chance he really could do well at radio or as a comedian. I hope he gets the opportunity. He was the most fearless person I've ever met, despite his slight build. He was also the most incisively witty. He was the person who lead me to the conclusion that if you are too intelligent, it is impossible to be completely sane. He couldn't listen to anyone or anything without seeing through whatever bull was being spoken. I think that's why he drank. It stopped him thinking.

I can't tell you how happy I was to find out that he was still with us. I told him about my blog. I hope he reads this. Some things are better than money, finding a friend you thought was gone forever is one of them.

The Price of cheap booze

It seems that there is a consensus in the main parties that the days of cheap booze are numbered. On the BBC news tonight examples were given where the price was as low as 22p per can for lager. Bottles of cider containing 7 units are on sale for £1.25.

As a drinker, I have rather mixed feelings about proposals for minimum prices. I suspect that the treasury knows that drinkers are easy targets. Under the banner of health awareness, taxes are hiked up. It seems perverse that beer is cheaper than mineral water. How can it possibly cheaper to bottle beer than water? Is this due to supermarkets using alcohol to entice in shoppers, or blatant profiteering with water?

It would seem sensible for supermarkets and alcohol sellers to pay for the cost of healthcare for those who's health they ruin. If this means the price of booze being higher, I have no issue with that. If the tax raised exceeds the costs to the country of paying the associated health care and social costs, then that is fundamentally wrong. I would say that the government should establish an "alcohol fund". This would pay the health and social costs of drink related illness and death. This would be entirely funded from alcohol taxes.

It isn't the role of government to tell us how to live our lives. It isn't the responsibility of non drinkers to pay for the effects of drink. Then again, it isn't the responsibility of moderate drinkers to subsidise tee-totallers. We don't live in puritan times, and I for one am staunchly opposed to these type of nanny state politics. The one issue it won't solve is the type of drinker who goes into Tesco's and nicks the booze. I my experience, these are the most hardened drinkers and no strategy will easily address them.

Lets Do Drugs?

I was listening to the radio today and it appears that there is a recommendation that Ecstasy is downgraded from a class A drug to a class B drug. It appears the government has refused to listen to this advice. What are we to make of this? Well personally I don't really understand the difference between the classifications. Surely something is either illegal or it's not. If you were to ask the majority of parents if their child should go to prison for possessing a small amount of illegal substances, most would say no. If you asked them whether a dealer selling their child an illegal drug should go to prison, you would probably get a different answer. We all know that some drugs are illegal. The question we should be asking is what are we trying to achieve? Why are drugs illegal?

If I were to ask you why drugs are illegal, you'd probably say "To stop people taking them". The trouble is it doesn't. If we are inclined to take procure and take drugs, we will. The law doesn't change that, it just makes the trade uncontrollable. It also makes it extremely lucrative for criminals. Policy towards drug misuse needs a radical overhaul. Firstly we should decide exactly what we are trying to achieve. Secondly we should decide what is realistically achievable. Once we've figured that out, then we should design our rules and regulations.

So what are we trying to achieve? Well as I see it there are two major downsides to taking drugs. Firstly they can be detrimental to your health. Secondly they can seriously damage your financial situation. I've had close friends who've died through drug misuse and close friends who've lost their livelyhood/house/car etc through drug misuse, so I'm well aware of the downsides. Our aim should be to minimise the damage to individuals and the effect on society in general. What is realistically achievable? I don't believe we'll ever live in a drug free world. I think that realistically all we can do is the following :-

a) Remove the profit element of drug distribution for criminals
b) Minimise the health risks for drug users
c) Educate people as to the risks of drug use
d) Provide support mechanisms for drug addicts
e) Control the supply and quality of drugs
f) Ensure that drugs are as hard as possible to obtain by young people

Making drugs illegal achieves non of the above. Legalisation would by an extremely risky option, although I believe it would be preferable to the existing system, in as much as the criminal elements would be removed. I have been convinced by the arguments for controlled legalisation. I support a system whereby anyone over 18 could legally purchase drugs, providing they have registered as a drug user. This would enable users of addictive class A drugs (such as Heroin) to purchase the drugs in Boots. With chip & PIN technology the amounts could be monitored, reducing the possibilty of resale. Illegal sale would be monitored and enforced by customs and excise. Profits from sales would pay for the scheme. It would be possible to undercut the criminal elements controlling the trade and ensure proper quality control. The vast majority of profits for drug barons are made through hardened users and if this lucrative market was destroyed, then the risks would no longer be worthwhile.

A licensing scheme would also bring users within the system. Their health could be monitored and their quality of life improved. As with other medical conditions, those unable to work would receive the drugs on presciption (under supervision). I firmly believe that this will reduce crime.

As to education, I'd like every child to understand what taking up drug abuse as a hobby means. If you get really good at your hobby, you could lose your life, your home, your dignity. Over 90% of prostitutes are addicted to hard drugs and generally the hard drug usage came first.

Finally we need to decide what constitues an illegal drug. I'd abolish the class A/B/C system. It just confuses people. I'd say that we agree that Alcohol and Tobacco are legally accepted in the UK. These have downsides, but we tolerate these.

I'd say that any drug which causes less damage than these statistically should be legal. Any drug which causes more damage becomes illegal. If you want to take them, you register, pay a fee, get information about there effects, and if you still want to damage yourself, that's your choice as an adult. If you sell the drugs on, you go to prison. If you want to come off them, you enroll in a program and when you are clean you deregister. You'd divulge your usage on a CRB form, so if you want to become a bus driver, you have to clean your act up.

I know it's not a perfect solution, but it's not a perfect world. In my opinion only a pragmatic approach will work.

Me and Al

"Never trust a man who doesn't drink" An old, oft repeated adage in the company I prefer to keep. Now any regular reader of my blog will know I'm rather partial to a tipple. I've had a pretty good relationship with my mate Al Cohol over the years. Al's been there with me through the good times and the bad. Something good happens - lets celebrate and get sloshed. Something bad happens - lets commiserate and get sloshed. Someone gets married - lets have a party and get sloshed. Someone dies - lets have a wake and get sloshed. My Dad was from an Australian background and my Mum was from an Irish background so drinking is pretty much a part of our family culture. As best I can tell (they both passed away long before I was on the scene) both of my grandfathers were alcoholics and drink played no small part in their demise. My Dad never really talked about this, but when I visited my cousins in Cairns (Queensland) they told me the whole story.

Now a couple of my siblings have decided that they are alcoholics and have given up drinking (for a couple of years now). When my mum died last year, they presumably faced their biggest test. It's times of stress which get us back into bad ways. They seemed to cope pretty well without the booze. Which brings me onto the question. Am I an alcoholic? I've read quite a few definitions of what an alcoholic is. By the most ridiculous one, then yes definitly. I read that if you enjoy drinking, you are an alcoholic. If I didn't enjoy it, I'd stop. Other definitions - Do you drink every day. Well I used to. Every day I'd visit my mum and have at least 1 can of guinness with her. When she died, I stopped. I missed her and I missed having a Guinness with her, but I didn't feel the need to have a Guinness every day. So if I was an alcoholic, I've been cured.

So when do I drink. Well I always have at least 3 pints of Shandy (50% Lager/ 50% lemonade) after football on a Thursday night. If t's my mate Paul's turn to drive, I have 1 shandy and two pints of lager. I generally don't drink on a Tuesday as it's band rehearsal night. Mondays are the wife's band rehearsal. Afterwards, sometimes we share a bottle of red and sometimes we dont (same is true on Wednesday). Fridays and Saturdays we tend to go out and we'd share 1 or two (or sometimes 3 bottles of wine) or have 6-8 pints of lager if I'm out with mates. If we stay in we'd share 1 bottle of red wine. Last week I had a total of 7 pints and 3 glasses of wine, but my better half was away at Swansea for the weekend at a swimming gala and I don't really drink on my own - don't really feel like it. I'd estimate that on an average week I'd drink 15-20 drinks (a drink being a pint of beer or a glass of wine). I kept a log from August to December out of interest and this what it averaged. At Christmas & new year it may have been twice or three times that.

As to spirits. I rarely drink them, even at new year. I had 2 Scotches in that period (on top of 10 pints one night) and sorely regretted it. So how healthy am I. Well I have a problem with a hiatus hernia, which drinking doesn't help at all (neither do crisps, pizzas and pies). Other than that pretty good. I play five a side football once or twice every week for 1 hour. I visit the gym to do aerobic exercise 2-3 times a week (Row approx 14K a week and cycle approx 25K and do 600 abs crunches). I do an advanced ashtanga Yoga class (I'm not advanced but it fits my timetable) as well on a Friday. My blood pressure and heart rate is low for my age. My Cholesterol was also very low last time I had it taken. Last time I saw the Doctor he was rather surprised at my blood pressure. I'm 6'1 and approx 16 Stone. He took it three times and told me he thought the machine was broken. I explained about my exercise regime and he said this would lower my BP significantly. As Mrs T is not a meat eater (likes fish though), we tend not to eat much meat at home.

Now I'm quite happy with my lifestyle, my alcohol intake and my health. I'm not what you'd call a worrier. My bigest problem with drinking is that when I'm with friends, I really enjoy getting completely hammered (if they are also drinkers - which most of them are). I don't generally make a fool of myself or fall asleep in the gutter, but I have a day of feeling ill. My on-the-wagon siblings ask if it's worth it. Yes it is for me.

I believe that life is to be enjoyed. The first miracle Jesus performed (if you believe the Christian bible) was to turn water into wine at a wedding feast. An old irish priest once pointed out that the amount was about 40 gallons of wine. He also said that in scriptures it said that Jesus and his disciples went away and rested afterwards for a few days! An ex colleague of mine (a member of a non drinking Christian sect) claimed that the wine was non-alcoholic. As teh wedding was an Orthodox Jewish event I asked a Jewish friend whether he thought that it would have been recognised as a miracle if, when the booze ran out, Jesus had turned the water into Non Alcoholic wine. He said "He'd have been crucified three years early for winding them up". It must be remembered that the steward at the wedding also said it was the best quality.

So my definition of an alcoholic (for what it's worth). Someone who considers their alcohol intake to be a problem. I don't care whether people do or don't drink. I don't really think it affects their trustworthyness. If I was going out for the evening with a bunch of abstainers, I'd choose somewhere or something where drink wasn't a key part of the fun. Will I ever give up? Not unless I have to. It strikes me that all of the places in the world where Alcohol is banned don't seem to be much fun. Cheers !!!!!