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British MPs call for minimum alcohol prices
Source: Agencies |
January 8, 2010, Friday
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THE government should listen to its medical advisers and impose minimum prices for alcohol to curb binge drinking fueled by the ready availability of cheap booze, a parliamentary committee said yesterday.
It said the government was overly influenced by the drinks industry and supermarkets which peddled the "myth" that higher prices would unfairly hit moderate drinkers and have no effect on those who drank the most.
"The alcohol industry should not carry more weight in determining health policy than the chief medical officer," it said.
"The alcohol problem in this country reflects a failure of will and competence on the part of government departments and quangos," it added.
It said the government's alcohol strategy was closer to policies promoted by the drinks industry than measures proposed by health professionals.
By contrast, the devolved administration in Scotland is already pressing ahead with plans for minimum pricing for alcohol.
Last March Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected a recommendation from chief medical officer Liam Donaldson to set a minimum price of 50 pence per unit of alcohol in England, which would nearly double some discount beer and wine prices.
Donaldson said such a move would reduce the annual number of crimes by 46,000 and hospital admissions by 100,000 while cutting absenteeism from work, saving 1 billion pounds a year.
At the time Brown said he did not want to punish the majority for the actions of the few.
But the committee said moderate drinkers would not be unfairly affected precisely because they drank in moderation and would incur only a minor rise in expenditure.
It said higher prices would have the greatest beneficial effect on those who drank cheap alcohol, particularly young binge-drinkers and heavy drinkers on low incomes, who suffer most from liver disease.
It also called for a rise in the duty on spirits, which were frozen between 1997 and 2007, independent regulation of alcohol marketing and mandatory health warnings on drink labels.
"It is not inevitable that per capita alcohol consumption should be almost three times higher than it was in the middle of the twentieth century or that liver disease should continue to rise," it said.
"Nor is it inevitable that at night town centres should be awash with drunks, vomit and disorder.
"These changes have been fuelled by cheap booze, a liberal licensing regime and massive marketing budgets."
It said the government was overly influenced by the drinks industry and supermarkets which peddled the "myth" that higher prices would unfairly hit moderate drinkers and have no effect on those who drank the most.
"The alcohol industry should not carry more weight in determining health policy than the chief medical officer," it said.
"The alcohol problem in this country reflects a failure of will and competence on the part of government departments and quangos," it added.
It said the government's alcohol strategy was closer to policies promoted by the drinks industry than measures proposed by health professionals.
By contrast, the devolved administration in Scotland is already pressing ahead with plans for minimum pricing for alcohol.
Last March Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected a recommendation from chief medical officer Liam Donaldson to set a minimum price of 50 pence per unit of alcohol in England, which would nearly double some discount beer and wine prices.
Donaldson said such a move would reduce the annual number of crimes by 46,000 and hospital admissions by 100,000 while cutting absenteeism from work, saving 1 billion pounds a year.
At the time Brown said he did not want to punish the majority for the actions of the few.
But the committee said moderate drinkers would not be unfairly affected precisely because they drank in moderation and would incur only a minor rise in expenditure.
It said higher prices would have the greatest beneficial effect on those who drank cheap alcohol, particularly young binge-drinkers and heavy drinkers on low incomes, who suffer most from liver disease.
It also called for a rise in the duty on spirits, which were frozen between 1997 and 2007, independent regulation of alcohol marketing and mandatory health warnings on drink labels.
"It is not inevitable that per capita alcohol consumption should be almost three times higher than it was in the middle of the twentieth century or that liver disease should continue to rise," it said.
"Nor is it inevitable that at night town centres should be awash with drunks, vomit and disorder.
"These changes have been fuelled by cheap booze, a liberal licensing regime and massive marketing budgets."
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