A sea of trouble awaits once the shackles are off

THE countdown is on as we eagerly look forward to doing many of the things which were banned during this nightmare year of the pandemic. Freedom, if and when it finally comes, will be great. Seeing loved ones, travelling, shopping, playing sport, keeping fit, dining out, the list of activities we might enjoy seems endless as the halcyon days start to return.

It will certainly beat the monotony of simply walking the pavements, which for many is all they’ve been allowed to do.

Thanks to vaccination, the shackles are being loosened and, barring some new plague, all domestic restrictions will be gone by June. But it won’t all be plain sailing. There will be consequences once society is allowed to let rip.

And when we reflect on it, just how desirable were some aspects of that previous ‘normality’?

I’m thinking of the link between the night time economy and crime. Pubs will be welcoming indoor drinkers from May 17 and nightclubs can reopen on June 21. It will bring great benefits for those seekking a good time - but also huge prob- lems.

While many will peaceably enjoy y their outings when the trade is in full ll swing, others will cause trouble, we e just know it.

It’s an issue that we’ve thankfully y avoided during this year of relative e peace, one of the few benefits of our r quarantine.

Vaccine passports may reassure e drinkers that they’re safer from m infection, yet as sure as night follows s day, alcohol and testosteronefuelled idiots will be involved in confrontations, perhaps even more so after being repressed for so long. We’ll have fights and injuries, sexually motivated assaults, robberies, drug dealing, and all topped off with scraps in taxi queues. They’ll be many column inches written on this ‘dividend’ from ‘normality’.

The police will have to devote huge resources to their nightly patrols once again. Ambulance crews will be diverted from attending to the seriously ill and our hospital’s t l’ accident id t and d emergency staff t ff will spend most of their time at weekends dealing with the often bloody aftermath. Handling booze seems to be a particularly British problem, and we’ll export it to the bars and clubs on the Costas if and when overseas travel is permitted.

It’s a great shame. I know the pubs and clubs invest huge amounts in security, but with our ultra-liberal licensing laws the scene is surely set for a renewed outbreak of criminality.