I just had a 45-minute run-in with a Cardiff councillor on Radio Wales, who is trying to bring through a city-wide drinking control zone for Cardiff. He says that the police are asking for these powers, to enable them to 'deal more effectively' with problems. But as a caller pointed out, the police always want more powers - and they already have a whole series of options if somebody is causing disorder, from breach of the peace to obstruction of a public highway. The councillor told the caller he was 'talking rubbish' - though turns out the caller was a retired magistrate. Another caller noted that drunken disorderly convictions were down, which is interesting - shows that police prefer the openened booze confiscation powers, where they can confiscate booze on the spot, to proving a case against somebody.

Read on: Manifesto Club Campaign Against Booze Bans