SUMMER days sitting in the garden, supping a chilled glass of wine or two with friends and family, are a real treat.

The food is cooked by the men of the house, after the women have spent hours preparing the marinades and salads. Like many women, I imagine, I smile when my bloke suggests we have a barbeque and talks about how he will do all the work so I can have a rest. If only!

During summer, especially when we're on holiday, we run the risk of over-indulging in drink and doing real damage to our health. We are far more likely to over-indulge at this time of the year because many of us love summer weekend lunches in a garden and strolling to our local pub.

The sunshine, when it comes, makes the whole thing so much more enjoyable and more likely to happen. We all tend to be complacent about how we use alcohol, seeing it as an essential part of our social lives, relaxation, celebration and enjoyment.

But the health statistics are depressing. The number of "hazardous and harmful" drinkers in the country is 7.1 million. Alcohol-related deaths are the third highest risk to health in developed countries. Alcohol is getting cheaper and easier to buy. Supermarket offers on multiple purchases of wine and beer make alcohol much more affordable than it was just 25 years ago.

But alcohol costs the country a lot of money, through the pressure on the NHS and because of the behaviour of some when over the limit - alcohol-fuelled violence, disgusting uncouth personal habits and loud, lewd and ant-social behaviour by those who can't understand that enough is enough. People need to know their own limits and think about their own safety and that of those around them.

So what is the answer? Should the Government let people get on with it, stop being a nanny state?

Or should it place high taxes on booze to cut consumption? Should we be stricter about enforcing the legal age limit for buying alcohol?

Has the 24-hour drinking legislation really had an impact? In my experience few pubs have radically changed their opening hours as a result. Pubs that were "doing afters" before are still serving past 11pm. Others, like my local The Black Lion, which has a great selection of real ale, is, sadly, still ceasing to serve at the traditional time.

There is one method that has not yet been tried. In Germany there is a graduated approach to what can be drunk and at what age. At 16 years of age, you can buy beer and wine, but not until 18 can you touch spirits.

This possibly results in young people starting their first experiences of alcohol consumption in environments controlled by adults, in youth centres - where it's not as cheap as in supermarkets - or in pubs or beer gardens, with mum, dad and family. Some believe that it results a different, more adult-influenced early behaviour and a sensible attitude to drink that lasts a lifetime.

I would like to know your views on this. What should the Government be doing about alcohol - Anything or nothing? Should we be seeking to curb binge drinking and if so how? Do you think it is a problem in Newham? If you have something to say, call my office on (020) 7219 6999, e-mail me at brownl@parliament.uk or write to me at Lyn Brown MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.