Last updated 12:04, Saturday, 02 August 2008

WAYS to encourage responsible drinking hit the headlines this week when David Cameron encouraged parents to introduce their children to alcohol at home in order to avoid it causing trouble when they are older.

The Tory leader said his friends with the biggest problems were the ones who were never allowed to drink anything at home, while his friends who were allowed drinks at mealtime, were now the most responsible.

Speaking to a group of young Radio 1 Newsbeat listeners in Newquay, Cornwall, Mr Cameron said children should be introduced to the idea “that drinking is something you can do socially, and something you can do with a meal, and something that is part of life”.

Mr Cameron was responding to a question from 14-year-old Laura Barritt, from Bangor, North Wales, who claimed underage drinking was widespread and asked whether the Conservatives would consider creating public areas for teenagers to drink in.

He replied: “When you’re a teenager and you go to parties normally there are adults there, so that is fine. The idea of saying that we need to create some kind of public space where that happens, I think that’s quite different.”

Barrow GP Dr Geoff Jolliffe said Mr Cameron’s suggestions had the wrong focus.

Dr Jolliffe said: “David Cameron is half right but the half he has got wrong could have disastrous consequences for our children.

“The simple truth is alcohol has been a major cause of ill health, both physical and mental, in our country and contributes greatly to social morbidity and crime.

“It gets worse, as the north of England, and Cumbria, is worse than the national average and Barrow is the worst spot in Cumbria.

“There is evidence to confirm what David Cameron is saying, but I think it is wrong for him to be sending out the message that alcohol is okay to children.

“What we need is parents giving a good example to their children and restricting their exposure.

“We must stop the Barrow culture of parents funding their underage children’s drinking habits at weekends to keep them quiet, which is spawning the next generation with underage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health problems and social disruption.

“As for safe places for teenagers to drink, surely what we should be doing is providing proper activities for these children to do in evenings and weekends?

“This week I have had to deal with patients experiencing job loss, unwanted pregnancy and arrest, through drinking too much – that’s pretty typical.

“The truth is we have too many people drinking too much too often.

“If we want to stop that, then we have to raise a generation that is better than their parents.

“It is possible.

“Look at tobacco – it’s not uncommon now for children to get on their parents’ case about their smoking and often I witness that in the surgery.

“A healthy Barrow in the future is possible but we all need to help ourselves and our children.”