Several papers are reporting today that the UK Government is moving towards fixing a minimum price for alcohol. The Daily Telegraph reports that:
'The scheme could see the starting cost of drinks fixed at between 40p and 50p per alcoholic unit – leading to a six-pack of lager costing about £6 and a bottle of wine costing £4.50. Cheap bottles of cider could quadruple in price.'
Such a scheme would affect the retail sector more than restaurants and pubs where alcohol already tends to be more expensive. Although I don't have much sympathy for the supermarkets who have made great play of offering cheap deals on wine, beer and spirits, it is difficult to see how such a minimum scheme would operate, assuming that it doesn't breach European trade legislation. If the Government force up wine that currently costs £3.29 to £4.50 – a rise of £1.21 – who gets the additional money? The Government? So another tax on alcohol? The supermarkets who are already making huge profits? It would be good if the producers got a decent price for their wine but this isn't going to happen, is it?
Although alcohol clearly can be a problem, I'm not very convinced by the panic about binge drinking if only because I see very few examples of it. I regularly catch buses late at night from the centre of London to Forest Hill and rarely come across drunks, although to be fair there are occasionally instances if you take the train instead. Nor are there places where you can drink 24 hours a day – most pubs on the journey back are closed by midnight or just a few customers finishing their drinks.
'The scheme could see the starting cost of drinks fixed at between 40p and 50p per alcoholic unit – leading to a six-pack of lager costing about £6 and a bottle of wine costing £4.50. Cheap bottles of cider could quadruple in price.'
Such a scheme would affect the retail sector more than restaurants and pubs where alcohol already tends to be more expensive. Although I don't have much sympathy for the supermarkets who have made great play of offering cheap deals on wine, beer and spirits, it is difficult to see how such a minimum scheme would operate, assuming that it doesn't breach European trade legislation. If the Government force up wine that currently costs £3.29 to £4.50 – a rise of £1.21 – who gets the additional money? The Government? So another tax on alcohol? The supermarkets who are already making huge profits? It would be good if the producers got a decent price for their wine but this isn't going to happen, is it?
Although alcohol clearly can be a problem, I'm not very convinced by the panic about binge drinking if only because I see very few examples of it. I regularly catch buses late at night from the centre of London to Forest Hill and rarely come across drunks, although to be fair there are occasionally instances if you take the train instead. Nor are there places where you can drink 24 hours a day – most pubs on the journey back are closed by midnight or just a few customers finishing their drinks.
