Punishing innocent bystanders

Continuing the government tradition of punishing innocent bystanders rather than those who are actually guilty, Licensing Minister Richard Caborn is now going to require all night takeaways to be licensed.

"Late night takeaways are often a magnet for violence and anti-social behaviour on Friday and Saturday nights as beered up revellers spill out of bars and pubs at the same time in search of a burger or a doner.

"From next year we're going to give local residents a say in whether they have a late night chippie or kebab shop on their street corner by bringing them under control of the new Licensing Act.

"This will help stop a night out turning into someone else's nightmare."

Why can't they just deal with the "beered up revellers"? Some poor soul who is trying to earn a living by providing a useful service at unsocial hours is first going to have to deal with yet another layer of bureaucracy, and then, when the police fail to deal with rowdy behaviour, will no doubt have his livelihood taken away.