Church of Scotland Moderator, the Rev. David Lacy,has decried the Scottish Executive for its plans to liberalise licensing laws, describing them as ‘ludicrous’ and warning that they will only lead to a rise in drunkenness and violence.

|TOP|The Scottish Executive plans to introduce new licensing regulations in 2007, bringing an end to statutory opening hours. The new laws will give Scotland’s 32 licensing boards greater freedom to allow pubs, clubs and bars to stay open longer.

The Scottish Executive denied that the new licensing bill would relax current licensing laws but said that it would “provide a far greater degree of control for licensing boards with tougher enforcement and new provisions designed to tackle the harm caused by binge and underage drinking. It will allow 24-hour opening only in exceptional circumstances.”

Tom Wood, the former deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders police, now working against Edinburgh’s drink and drugs problem, played down fears that any loosening of current licensing laws would lead to a rise in crime.

“We are on the brink and this is the best opportunity we have to get a grip of this. The proposals give power and responsibility to boards and it’s right they should have the power to reward good behaviour and likewise to penalise the places that are not well.”

But Rev. Lacy has sharply criticised the new proposals, arguing that longer opening hours for pubs and clubs will lead to a rise in violent crime and disorder. Alcohol and drug abuse have already contributed to rising levels of violence in Scotland, reports The Times.

|QUOTE|Rev. Lacy said: “I think it’s ludicrous to relax the licensing laws when we know (alcohol) is causing trouble. We should instead be curtailing them.”

He warned: “When licensing laws were first extended, in line with some European countries, to combat binge-drinking, the very opposite proved true and anyone can see that by walking in our towns and cities at night.

“I see behaviour now that I would not have seen 10 or 20 years ago, with inebriated kids shouting, being unruly and staggering home in the early hours of the morning. While sometimes what lies at the bottom of these problems is selfishness, it is just as often a lack of direction in someone’s life.”

The Catholic Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Devine, made similar remarks: “I rather suspect the age group we are interested in – the younger generation who become involved in alcohol-related crime – will drink more, not less.

“Our large cities seem to be inveterately dangerous places on Friday and Saturday nights when a very different atmosphere prevails.”

Rev. Devine warned that, “Family breakdown and the rootlessness of youth, their lack of a sense of guilt, are also to blame”.

A United Nations report published last month revealed that Scotland is already the most violent country in the developed world with more than 2,000 Scots being attacked every week – almost 10 times the official police figure.

The World Health Organisation also published figures last week which showed Scotland to have the second-highest murder rate in Western Europe.

The results of another study by the University of California, due to be published later in the year, will also make the claim that Scotland has a higher violent death rate than America, Israel, Uzbekistan, Chile and Uruguay.

According to statistics published in The Times, of 451 murder victims in Scotland between 2000 and 2003, 50 per cent were drunk at the time while almost half of 598 suspected killers over the same period were also drunk.

Scotland also sees around 2,000 alcohol-related deaths each year – more than five a day, with around 10 per cent of all admissions to accident and emergency departments related to alcohol abuse.