New powers to target street drinkers

The Council has today approved a Designated Public Place Order which gives police the power to confiscate alcohol being drunk in public places or require people to stop drinking. Failure to comply can result in arrest or a fixed penalty notice being issued.

This is not going to stop people enjoying a drink in the park - it’s for the persistent drinkers who’re shouting and intimidating people, and giving police the power to deal with them.

Tory mayoral candidate Andrew Boff does not approve. He told the Hackney Post:

“I think it would work in isolated problem areas but a blanket ban is just another example of the nanny state."

He's wrong. First of all it's not a ban on drinking - it's a power to prevent anti-social drinking in public places that makes decent people's lives a misery. Second, the trouble with tackling 'isolated problem areas' is that street drinkers simply move on a few hundred yards and cause misery to a new group of people. That's why Haggerston Councillors and others argued for a Hackney wide approach.