A prominent anti-binge drinking campaigner is set to be made a Conservative peer in the House of Lords.
Helen Newlove, of Warrington in Cheshire, has campaigned against binge drinking and alcohol-related violence since her husband was brutally murdered by drunken youths in 2007.
Garry Newlove’s death spurred his wife into action and in 2008 she founded a charity, called the Newlove Warrington Campaign, to engage youngsters in her home town and one of its aims is to raise alcohol awareness.
Passion
Mrs Newlove is also the chairwoman of the National Licensed Trade Association (NLTA) which she launched earlier this year.
The NLTA aims to curb the nation’s binge drinking culture via campaigns, education and training for landlords and bar staff.
A Government source welcomed Mrs Newlove’s peerage, saying: “The PM believes someone of Helen’s passion, determination and common sense will bring an awful lot to public life. She is a remarkable woman.”
Murder
Mr Newlove was kicked to death after he confronted a gang of drunken youths who were vandalising his wife’s car.
Mrs Newlove’s appointment comes in the wake of the Home Secretary’s pledge to clampdown on the nation’s binge drinking.
Last week Theresa May ordered a “complete review” of Labour’s disastrous 24-hour drinking laws.
Disaster
And the Government’s new detailed programme for government, which was released last week, also contained a pledge to “ban the sale of alcohol below cost price”.
The programme also commits the Government to conducting a “review of alcohol taxation and pricing to ensure it tackles binge drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and important local industries.”
Last month ex-Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair said the effects of Labour’s 24-hour drinking policy had been disastrous.
Sir Ian said he believed that the policy of all-day drinking was a “serious mistake”. Sir Ian, who left the Met Police in 2008, said the hoped for ‘café culture’ was never achievable for Britain and now our cities need to be saved from the chaos left behind.