Legal drinking age is 5 in the UK?

Question

Is this true or is it a typo? What's the rationale if its true?

Answer 1

That is true - in a way
It is illegal to give alcohol to someone under 5. Over 5's can only drink in their home.
The eccentricities of the UK's drinking laws are set out here -

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/alcohol/alcohol_law2.shtml

Answer 2

It is legal to give alcohol to a child over 5 in their own home at the parent's discretion.

At 16 you can drink beer or cider in a pub with a meal with your parent's permission

At 18 you can drink as much as you like with or without your parent's permission.

Answer 3

under 5 may only be given alcohol on medical order Children and Young Person's Act of 1933
5 and over may consume alcohol, e.g. at home. It is only illegal for those aged 5-18 to drink alcohol on licensed premises (without meeting other licensing requirements)
under 14 may not be present in the bar of licensed premises unless accompanied by a person over 28, it is before 9pm and a children Licensing Act of 1964, Deregulation and Contracting Out Act of 1994
14 and over may be in the bar of licensed premises during permitted hours at licensee's discretion Licensing Act 1964
under 16 may be present in a restaraunt etc where alcohol is served with a meal and at the licensee's discretion may consume (but not purchase) alcohol bought by a parent or guardian
16 and over may purchase beer, porter, cider, or perry with a meal in an eating area on licensed premises (In Scotland wine also) Licensing Act of 1964
under 18 may not purchase or be supplied with or consume alcohol in a bar
under 18 police have powers to confiscate alcohol from under 18s drinking in public and to contact their parents Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act of 1997
under 18 Licensees and staff of licensed premises have a positive duty not to sell alcohol unless they are reasonably certain that the purchaser is not under the age of 18. The legal obstruction to test purchasing under the supervision of police or insperctors of weights and measures is removed. Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001
16-18 May not be employed in bar of a licensed premises, unless as part of a Modern Apprenticeship Scheme Licensing Act 1997

Answer 4

Yes and here's the full run down as applicable to England, Wales and the Scilly Isles:
You can not give alcohol to an under 5 yrs old except for medicinal reasons or on doctors orders. Over 5yrs alcohol may be given but not in a public licensed bar situation, only in your own home or private situations..
In public situations:
Over 18yrs can buy and consume any alcohol.
16yrs & 17yrs can drink beer, cider or wine to be consumed with a proper meal PROVIDED its puirchased for them by an over 18yrs who MUST stay and supervise ' baby sit' the consumption.
Any age may sell & serve alcohol in bars provided they are supervised by an over 18yr old fellow employee and or supervised by a 'personal licence holder' ( plh - a form of licence granted after passing a govt. approved examination in liquor licensing law )
Over 16yrs unaccompanied can go into bars but not drink.
Under 16 yrs unaccompanied can go into bars if the actual sale of alcohol is not the dominant feature, ( ie. possibly the venue has a big music and food trade as well as alcohol sales) except no entry allowed between midnight & 5.00 a.m.Musn't drink any alcohol.
Under 16yrs accompanied - no restrictions on entry but can't drink alcohol.
Edit 1. With all due respect to 'basement bob's entry currently below, this shows the danger of copying infomation without any understand of the law. His entry is a direct copy of information erroneously posted on the site he draws your attention to. All the refences to the Licensing Act 1964 are obsolete. The LA 1964 was repealed as a result of the Licensing Act 2003 which replaced it and which finally came into force in November 2005. Please trust me on this one, I teach English licensing law. Any remaining doubts just put Licensing Act 2003 into google for various sites, govt. information, the Act itself, etc. etc.
Edit 2. The link kindly provided by Philip W, see previously, is also wrong and totally out of date, that link again makes references to the Licensing Act 1964 which was repealed as I have already explained. The internet can be a wonderful tool but out of date sites are positively dangerous.

Answer 5

No its 18.

Answer 6

It's pretty disgusting isn't it?

Answer 7

hahahahhahahahaha.
no way!
maybe it was 15