ALCOHOL bought at an off-licence should be taxed more heavily, says the head of the GLVA.
Speaking at the association’s annual dinner and ball at the St Pierre Park Hotel last night, publicans’ president Peter Leigh said bars were at a disadvantage because off-licences could open for longer.
‘There is talk of further taxes on alcohol to combat binge drinking,’ he said.
‘My committee firmly believes that raising taxes on alcohol in pubs won’t work.
‘Why not raise taxes on off sales and leave the working man’s pub alone?’
Mr Leigh said that even on Christmas Day, when pubs were severely limited as to the hours they could open, off-licences could sell alcohol all day.
Mr Leigh criticised the smoking ban.
It may have been a success for Health and Social Services, he said, but he believed publicans’ sales were probably 30-40% down because of it.
‘I said last year that staying in would be the new going out and that businesses would suffer,’ he said.
Mr Leigh expressed his concern that some licensees appeared not to believe the GLVA had a place in their business plan. He suggested otherwise by outlining the work of the committee over the past year.
‘We have been invited to many meetings and discussions with Drug and Alcohol Strategy,’ he said.
‘If we weren’t there then rules and regulations would abound, made by politicians who have no insight into running a licensed premises.’
He spoke of better relations with the police and outlined the various panels on which the committee was represented, adding that its committee was now being taken much more seriously.
Mr Leigh informed the association that he might not seek re-election as president at the AGM in May.
‘After many requests from friends and acquaintances, I have decided to put myself up as a candidate in the forthcoming general election,’ he said.
Article posted on 27th February, 2008 - 11.00am
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