Charities and opposition MPs have criticised ministers' proposals to tackle underage drinking in England.
Parents who allow children to drink in public could be prosecuted, Tributes paid to MP Dunwoody ...
Afghan Pop Idol winner declared ... and it could become illegal for under-18s to be regularly found with alcohol.
But the Tories and Lib Dems said legislation would not solve the problem, while charity Addaction said the price of drink should rise instead.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw insisted the law could change behaviour.
'Underlying problem'
Shadow children, schools and families secretary Michael Gove said new laws were not the answer.
Mr Gove told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "We will wait to see the detail because one of the things we have seen from the government over the last 10 years is to come up with legislation, often well intentioned, but it hasn't tackled the underlying problem."
The proposals also include handing the police tougher powers to disperse gangs of young people congregating in the open.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the government's plans were misguided.
He told the BBC: "Trying to get parents involved is a good thing but once again the government is trying to create great fanfare for a new offence when criminalising people is not always the best way to deal with it.''
Frank Soodeen from the charity Alcohol Concern welcomed the government's plans, while saying more needed to be done to address the ready availability and affordability of alcohol.
But Deborah Campbell of the drug and alcohol treatment charity Addaction warned the proposals could make things worse for young people.
She added: "The problem with criminalisation is that they may just be driven to going to more dangerous areas."
Jill Shaw, from social care charity Turning Point, said the government's plans should include improving access to alcohol treatment services which adopt a whole-family approach.
"The strategy should address the major challenge of parental alcohol misuse: over a million children live with parents who have alcohol problems," she said.
Gavin Partington of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association said existing laws could be better enforced.
Illicit allure
A-level student Edward Whitworth, 18, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, said he believed that clamping down on underage drinking would make matters worse.
He told the BBC he had consumed alcohol from the age of 14 in a park near his home, and believes the illicit nature of alcohol added to its allure.
"Young people will always find a way to get round a ban - by getting older people to buy drink for them or whatever," he said.
"Surely it would be better if we followed the example of much of Europe, where children are introduced to alcohol in the company of their parents from a young age and develop a respect for it."
As well as urging greater take-up by police of existing powers to confiscate alcohol and disperse young people, ministers are targeting parents as a means to tackle underage drinking.
Those who fail to get their children to "change their ways" and stop abusing alcohol could be required to attend parenting courses.
Ultimately, they could be prosecuted.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said professionals would be called in where parents were unable to handle their offspring.
She added: "These new measures are designed to set clear boundaries."
Meanwhile, Mr Straw told the Andrew Marr Show there were a number of measures that could be taken to change behaviour.
"I think you can by changing the law, by greatly improving enforcement and also by making a kind of moral imperative towards parents, as well as those young people, you can start to change behaviour," he said.
"And there's a big moral imperative in my view on the supermarkets, on the corner shops and on the drink producers as well.''
Anti-social behaviour
The government is keen to make the link between the abuse of alcohol and anti-social behaviour by young people.
Under the plans, teenagers persistently possessing alcohol in public will be subjected to anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) and acceptable behaviour contracts.
The suggestion that police would be given new powers to tackle underage drinking in public were first outlined by the home secretary in February.
An action plan will be released by Ms Smith together with Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Alan Johnson on Monday.
The government said the number of 11 to 15-year-olds drinking regularly had fallen from 28% in 2001 to 21% in 2006.
However, average consumption by young people who drank had nearly doubled from 5.3 units in 1990 to 11.4 units in 2006.
(BBC)
<< Back