I caught up with this week’s Question Time tonight and Sir Liam Donaldson’s suggestion of a minimum price per unit was discussed.
The reaction from the politicians on the panel was, sadly, predictable. Both Tessa Jowell and Ken Clarke made disparaging remarks about the proposal – both with an eye on the next election. Jowell is desperate to stay in power and Clarke is desperate to regain it. Neither is prepared to risk upsetting the public with such a proposal, especially during a recession.
One of the key problems with the public’s reaction to the proposal is that they think it will have a big impact on their wallets, and neither Jowell nor Clarke were in a rush to clarify this assumption. Only Vince Cable, the sole panelist to voice support for the proposal, made an effort to explain the facts. By the end of his reply, he even managed to gain a moderate round of applause which was in stark contrast to the single hand clap he received when he started speaking.
Liam Donaldson’s aim is to increase the price of cheap alcohol, not all alcohol. Prices in pubs won’t be affected because, unless you drink alongside DCI Gene Hunt and barring headline grabbing promotions, you can’t get a pint for much less than £1 anywhere in the country. Even the recent Wetherspoon’s Green King IPA 99p promotion wouldn’t really have been affected. At 3.6% ABV, a pint of IPA is 2.05 units so the minimum price would be £1.02 – an increase of 3p a pint.
The proposal is aimed at stopping supermarkets from selling strong alcohol at less than production cost as a loss-leader, something that has been happening for several years now. Not only is this affecting our pub industry, it’s seriously affecting the health of the nation. And it’s especially affecting the youth of the nation who have never known anything but cheap alcohol and have drastically different attitudes to drink than previous recent generations.
Of course, young people enjoying a drink is nothing new, most of us did at that age and many still do. But the level of alcohol consumption, and the amount of high-strength spirits that are now drunk, is very different to what most of us experienced when we went out for a night with a fiver in our pockets to buy a few pints of mid-strength lager or bitter.
Dr Petra Meier, a lecturer at Sheffield University who conducted an independent study for the Department of Health, estimated the average moderate drinker would be worse off by about £1 a month. Even in times of recession, most people would be able to live with this. The proposal is aimed at improving the health of the harmful drinker who would be hit by about £13 a month if they didn’t adjust their drinking.
Dr Meier estimates the proposals would save 3400 lives a year, reduce hospital admissions by 100,000, reduce alcohol-related crimes and reduce workplace absences by 300,000 a year.
Unfortunately most of our politicians can’t see beyond the possibility of the reduction in their votes so the health of the nation, and the sustainability of the nation’s pubs, will continue to suffer for some time to come. Hopefully when the next general election is fought and won, the winning party – whichever one it is – will have the courage to introduce this measure, safe in the knowledge they are have a full term in office to convince the voters there are bigger issues to worry about than a £1 a month increase in their booze bill.
Tags: alcohol, government, health, minimum pricing, policy
My girlfriend purchased a crate of Goose Island Root Beer for me in readiness for my birthday (March 22 – another year older!). I can honestly say that it’s the best Root Beer I’ve ever tasted, bar none.
In fact, a colleague of mine was so enamoured with the taste and creaminess that he instantly purchased a crate himself (on March 23) – it arrived today (March 24).
Service, style and superb product.
I don’t know how an online store can be better than this!
Thanks for your compliments Owen! The root beer is one of my personal favourites too.