Mardi Gras, college (and even high school) spring break, any bar district that attracts a lot of young people, Frat Row on any college campus, any bar district on New Year's Eve ... it's not like this kind of behavior is unprecedented. It might be cause for concern if it's unusually widespread or severe, but you won't put it in perspective based on a tabloid story.
Yes, I don’t see it as anything really strange. I suppose it’s just awful photos of young girls in the gutter that upsets people. I can certainly understand that. But I’ve seen it in GB. On my block in NYC, there is an Irish pub that has a lot of wild drinking going on. But I’ve never seen a man or woman in the gutter.
Public drunkenness is tolerated in England to a degree far greater than here, that’s just a fact.