When Britain liberalized the sale of alcohol in 2005, there were murmurs that the British fondness for imbibing would be indulged at all hours with dire consequences for societal order and common decency.

Two years after permitting licensed premises to sell alcohol 24/7, pressure is indeed mounting on the British government to tackle an alcohol problem – but not because of round-the-clock drinking. Instead, an increasingly vocal assemblage of lawmakers and police chiefs concerned about drinking-related problems such as petty crime, antisocial behavior, assault, and worse point to a different factor: Alcohol is too cheap.

Almost 200 lawmakers are calling for an end to irresponsible drink promotions and in particular want supermarkets to desist from selling alcohol below cost. Some stores, for instance, have been pricing lager cheaper than water.

Several police chiefs meanwhile have been calling for action to stop the supply of cut-price liquor, which they say is directly responsible for crime and rowdy behavior.

According to Peter Fahy, chief constable of Cheshire in northwest England, alcohol is "too cheap, too readily available, and too strong. Young people cannot handle it."

His counterpart in Devon and Cornwall, southwest England, Stephen Otter, said groups of youngsters drinking in parks were making people feel "unsafe or uncomfortable" and said binge drinking was fueling crime.

Alcohol is now 65 percent more affordable than it was in 1980, according to Alcohol Concern, a charity. Prices have failed to keep pace with general inflation, and the Labour government has been reluctant to hike taxes, particularly on spirits.

'Irresponsible drink promotions'

Retailers meanwhile have engaged in a series of promotions. During last year's soccer World Cup, for example, supermarkets sold £112.7 million ($226 million) of beer, wines, and spirits below cost, according to the Competition Commission, an independent public group that monitors regulated industries. John Grogan, a lawmaker behind the parliamentary motion calling for an end to "irresponsible drinks promotions," says that nearly half of all beer sold in Britain comes from supermarkets. A generation ago, it was barely 10 percent. "When you are giving [beer] away at less than the price of water, it does have an impact."

Around one-third of 11- to 15-year-olds today say they drink at least once a week, and overall consumption rates have doubled to about 11.4 units per week . When it comes to binge drinking (sometimes defined as having five or more drinks in one sitting), Britain is third only to Ireland and Finland in Europe.

But in a change from previous habits, when drinkers would spend their time and money in pubs, many young people will now often get cheap liquor from stores and then finish an evening's carousing at a nightspot.

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