Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Home Office – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 31 January 2005.
Is the Minister aware that at night in Croydon, we have 20 extra policemen in the town centre to deal with binge drinking on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights? Those 20 policemen are thus not on the beat. Does she accept, as it was pointed out earlier, that the beneficiaries of binge drinking—the vertical retail outlets—should pay for such extra policing? Although the Home Secretary may be consulting on that, frankly it is time for action.