From the BBC:
The government's top medical adviser has drawn up plans for a minimum price for alcohol which would double the cost of some drinks in England. Under the proposal from Sir Liam Donaldson, it has been reported that no drinks could be sold for less than 50 pence per unit of alcohol they contain. It would mean most bottles of wine could not be sold for less than £4.50.
Cabinet minister Douglas Alexander said the government would consider what Sir Liam had to say in his report. The proposal is aimed at tackling alcohol misuse and is set out in Sir Liam's annual report on the nation's health. The BBC's health correspondent Adam Brimelow said Sir Liam's recommendation would not automatically become government policy. But he said Sir Liam was influential and had advocated a ban on smoking in public places long before it became law.
Our correspondent added that recent research from the Department of Health had shown that a minimum of 50 pence per unit of alcohol would reduce consumption by almost 7%.
Woah!
1. The government does not listen to its own specialist advisors unless it suits them. When the ACMD put out research showing that cannabis was not particularly harmful, the government completely ignored it. If Sir Liam was a cheerleader for the smoking ban, then this does not bode well.
2. T'was but two short weeks ago that the socialist running dogs reported that "... research [carried out by bansturbators] showed a minimum 40p per unit caused consumption to fall 2.6 per cent." That's how these convenient myths are inflated - first it's a 40p minimum leading to a 2.6% fall; now it's a 50p minimum leading to a 7% fall. In a few weeks' time, no doubt some more "research" will show that a 60p minimum will lead to a 15% fall and so on.
3. It's nice to see everybody's favourite fakecharity get another opportunity to preen themselves. If you want an idea as to the direction the government is going, they are as good a guide as any.
4. The BBC article rounds off with some meaningless statistics on alcohol-related NHS admissions, stated as 207,800, or roughly two per cent of all admissions, including accidents while drunk. Last summer, they briefly revised this figure up to 800,000, but that Big Fat Lie seems to have gone out of fashion again.
5. The article also mentions the "cost to the NHS", stated as £2.7 billion, or a staggering £13,000 per admission, that can't be right, surely? And how about comparing that £2.7 billion with total receipts from VAT and duty on alcohol sales of around £12 billion?
I tell you, it's thirsty work, this 'blogging, and the weather is glorious so I'm off out to do some in-depth, first hand research on the effects of alcohol.
H/t CCTV Star
Elevate their cause?
4 hours ago
13 comments:
If the result is that lager pisswater costs more while a Central Otago Pinot Noir costs less, I shall be somewhat consoled. Making a bottle of Springbank more affordable would also be a fine thing.
All in all, a policy from the People's Party that amounts to a poll tax on pissheads and adolescents: well done, boys.
The bizarre thing is that the government's taxation policies for many years have been discouraging social drinking and encouraging people to stock up on cheaper off sales.
D, do you seriously think that your COPN will come down in price?
MJW, smoking ban, say no more.
Looks like this proposed tax may well fall foul of EU law. So the dreaded EU may be good for something.
"So the dreaded EU may be good for something."
They are always falling foul of EU law, aren't they...?
Tiuring word: cheri O.ooo ;)
I need a drink....or two....
Interesting point on the EU thing. If I want a cheap bottle of red I buy Tesco's Bulgarian wine, which before the £ tanked was £2.88, but is now £3.29/49. You can get similarly priced own-brand new-world wines in the supermarket.
There's not that much French or German wine at less than £4.50 a bottle, and certianly none that you'd want to drink.
The EU (well France and Germany) are unlikely to protest are they?
Steven L, you have nailed that one.
This £4.50 thing is spin too.
I’ve come up with this formula to work out the minimum price of your favourite tipple under the new proposals:
Vol = Volume of beverage in ml
ABV = Alcohol by volume expressed as a decimal fraction (i.e. 13% = 0.13)
[(vol x ABV) / 10] x 0.5 = Minimum price in £
So a bottle of Australian Chardonnay (13.5%) = £5.06
An average bottle of Chilian Cab Sav (14.5%) = £5.43
Average bottle of red Bordeaux (12.5%) = £4.69
I'm not sure Steve has nailed it.
Our betters are worried by cheap alcohol which means cheap beer not wine.
I grant you French wine-makers aren't going to worry about the minimum price but Belgium bier makers are going to get hit. That's the sort of stuff they sell in supermarkets.
On a different note I very much doubt the reduction claims. I've lived in Scandinavia where alcohol was only sold in government shops that resemble porn stores. The price is astronomical but that doesn't stop teenagers getting out of their heads at the equivalent of spring break.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5000433/Passive-drinking-is-blighting-the-nation-Sir-Liam-Donaldson-warns.html
'Sir Liam Donaldson said the average adult in the UK consumes the equivalent of 120 bottles of wine a year...'
Shocking, no? Let's look a bit closer.
1. 120 bottles a year = 10 a month.
2. 10 divided by 30 = 0.33, so the average adult drinks 0.33 of a bottle of wine a day.
3. A bottle of wine typically contains 9 or 10 units of alcohol. 0.33 of 9 is 3, and 0.33 of 10 is 3.3.
4. The government has kindly told us that it is safe to drink between 2 and 4 units of alcohol a day.
5. So the average adult's consumption of alcohol is in line with government advice.
So... where exactly is the problem???
Rachel Miller
Rachel, the problem is probably in Lickey End.
Hehe. I'm not going to live that one down, am I?
But I do think it's worrying that Sir Liam is using the fact that the average adult *is following the 'safe limits' set* as grounds to restrict access to alcohol.
Rachel M
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