One-quarter of all British adults have been the victims of alcohol-related violence according to the biggest survey yet

One-quarter of all British adults have been the victims of alcohol-related violence, according to the biggest survey yet on public attitudes to drinking published today. One-quarter of all British adults have been the victims of alcohol-related violence, according to the biggest survey yet on public attitudes to drinking published today.
The Mori poll found that one in seven adults had been attacked in a pub and one in eight had been assaulted by drunks on the street. Most people believed that alcohol-related violence was on the increase, particularly in the street.People under the age of 35 are five times more likely to have experienced drunken attacks in the pub than those over 65, suggesting that drinking patterns are driving up levels of violence. Four out of five would support some form of public drinking ban but half of those questioned doubted that police could effectively enforce one.The findings will concern government ministers who fear damaging headlines emerging from the British Crime Survey, which is to be published next month. Like the Mori poll, the Crime Survey – which comes out every two years and will this year include information on alcohol-related crime – is based on public attitudes rather than recorded offences.According to the Mori poll, people in Scotland were most likely to be the victims of pub violence, with most street attacks occurring in London and the South-east and in Scotland. One person in 14 said they had suffered alcohol-related violence in the home, with two-thirds of the victims being women.The poll was commissioned by the Portman Group, set up by brewers to promote sensible drinking, which admitted yesterday that it had been “surprised” at the scale of the violence uncovered.

Jean Coussins, the Portman Group’s director, said: “I don’t think you can brush aside findings that 14 per cent of people say they have been victims of pub violence.” She called on the Government to commission more research on alcohol-related crime and implement proposals to give police greater powers to close down pubs with a track record of violence. Ms Coussins said: “We also need pub companies to promote more friendly pubs so that civilised sensible drinking becomes the norm.”The Mori findings follow those of a study by researchers at Durham University, which concluded that many town centres were becoming alcoholfuelled battlegrounds. The Durham team warned that projects by local authorities to transform decaying urban centres into 24-hour café societies were being undermined by planners allowing dense concentrations of late-night bars catering for young people.The potential for violence has been recognised in Burnley, Lancashire, which has become a vibrant regional centre for nightlife. To minimise the risk of trouble in the town centre, Lancashire Police drew up an action plan in conjunction with licensees, taxi drivers and the town council, which reduced the number of reported incidents by 20 per cent.Officers sent letters to the homes of known violent offenders giving them “crime-prevention advice” and warning that violence would not be tolerated in the town centre. Posters were also placed in pubs and taxis advising that 80 per cent of assaults were related to drink. The force also decidedto deploy large numbers of officers on foot, wearing high-visibility clothing to reassure people using the centre at night.Inspector Steve Hartley of Lancashire Police said: “There are no easy answers…

But the feedback we have had is that the town centre now feels safer.”. Thousands of asylum seekers who were to be dispersed throughout Britain are opting to sleep rough in London rather than be given free housing elsewhere. Thousands of asylum seekers who were to be dispersed throughout Britain are opting to sleep rough in London rather than be given free housing elsewhere.
The determination of the asylum seekers to remain in the capital has thrown into disarray government plans to move 65,000 people out of London and the South-east.Furious local authorities accused the Home Office of costing them hundreds of thousands of pounds after they responded to emergency calls to provide flats and houses for asylum-seekers and their families. The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, will come in for criticism from the councils over the shortfall between the number of asylum-seekers expected and the actual total dispersed. The Government also faces criticism over placing some asylum seekers in poor quality housing with private landlords.Liverpool City Council pulled out of the dispersal programme yesterday, claiming it was £170,000 out of pocket. The city was one of the first to respond to emergency calls for housing and has taken in 2,000 asylum seekers since December.But housing officials claim the Government has refused to pay a £96,000 bill to cover the cost of asylum-seekers who arrived in the city between December and March 2000.

They also insist they are incurring further costs – already in excess of £78,000 – because dozens of places provided for asylum seekers are empty.Councillor Richard Kemp, executive member for housing and neighbourhood services, said: “The people of Liverpool have proved their willingness to accept asylum-seekers – often when no-one else would But we are not a charity. We cannot afford to bear the brunt of unfulfilled obligations from the Home Office.”To make matters worse, they have ignored our repeated requests to place asylum-seekers through the council. Instead they have put 1,000 directly into private hands – and unsatisfactory conditions – and we have been left to pick up the pieces.”Councils in the South-west of England are also furious after being told their accommodation will no longer be needed.A Home Office spokeswoman admitted yesterday that the amount of accommodation required for asylum-seekers outside London had been over-estimated. She said instead of 65,000 beds in the first year, the Home Office now anticipated dispersing no more than 44,000.Refugee support groups predicted last year that asylum-seekers would be unwilling to leave London because of the presence of people from their own communities, specialist immigration lawyers and medical services.Asylum-seekers were given the choice of being housed outside London or providing their own accommodation and subsisting only on a voucher package of £36 a week for an individual or £57 for a couple.The Home Office has been surprised by the numbers who have opted to sleep on the floors of friends’ homes or elsewhere rather than come forward for housing.The Government has been placing asylum-seekers with private landlords after a dispute with local authorities over contracts which councils believe exposes them to undue financial risks. As a result the contracts are currently in their sixth draft and have still not been signed. The Home Office has resorted to placing asylum seekers in private sector housing.Fazil Kawani, communications director at the Refugee Council, said local authorities were “best placed” to house asylum-seekers and facilitate access to local services..

The MI6 building – a fortress-like cream and green structure, designed by the modernist architect Terry Farrell at Vauxhall Cross on the south bank of the Thames – is headquarters to one of Britain’s most secret organisations. The MI6 building – a fortress-like cream and green structure, designed by the modernist architect Terry Farrell at Vauxhall Cross on the south bank of the Thames – is headquarters to one of Britain’s most secret organisations.
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) – the organisation’s more correct title – was formed in 1921, when it was known as Military Intelligence, section six – or MI6 for short.Throughout the Cold War the service’s members were engaged in espionage and other intelligence activities abroad, using British agents and disaffected nationals of the countries in which they operated. It operates discreet out-stations in embassies and consulates around the world who locate and recruit agents.The service, which is directly responsible to the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, and ultimately to the Prime Minister, has been busily redefining its role since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and is thought to co-operate closely with the domestic security service MI5 in keeping track of Irish terrorist groups and more recently in anti-drugs smuggling efforts.The service is seen as a crucial part of the Whitehall machine and its information is used formulating foreign policy. It was criticised for failing to predict the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands and Saddam Hussein’s incursion into Kuwait.The work of the service has been romanticised in Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and the accompanying films, and ironically part of the building was shown being blown up by a bomb smuggled in by a terrorist in the last Bond film, The World is Not Enough. John Le Carre’s Smiley books were also based on the work of M16The hi-tech HQ building bristles with security features, including an extensive CCTV system, and bomb and bullet-proof walls and windows. Much of the complex is below street level to protect the most sensitive areas from terrorist attacks.