Cameron backs crackdown on cheap alcohol
Updated on 12 August 2010
Prime Minister David Cameron signals his support for councils wanting to introduce minimum prices for alcohol, to stop Britain's towns and cities becoming a "Wild West". The charity that pioneered the plan tells Channel 4 News it could have major health and social benefits.
Mr Cameron said he would look "very sympathetically" at plans from a group of ten local authorities in Greater Manchester to introduce a minimum price per alcohol unit of 50p.
The local authorities, collectively the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, want to pass bylaws to address the public disorder and health issues caused by binge drinking.
The plan would affect all pubs, supermarkets and off-licences in the Greater Manchester area, which has a population of 3.9 million people and includes towns like Rochdale and Stockport.
While a minimum price has been backed by public health bodies and experts, it has not been met with widespread government support - and Mr Cameron made it clear today that he did not want to introduce a minimum price nationwide.
The government is currently working on a consultation process over changes to licensing laws to tackle binge drinking, which closes next month.
More from Channel 4 News on 'Binge Britain'
- FactCheck: does Cameron's Stella claim add up?
- Calling time on cheap alcohol
- Scots to end cheap booze
- Boozing Britain
Government estimates suggest that the misuse of alcohol costs the UK up to £20bn a year, including costs to the National Health Service and policing towns hit by binge drinking.
Speaking today, Mr Cameron said: "Many of our towns and city centres on a Friday and Saturday night, it's like the Wild West. That is the problem and we've got to deal with it."
He told the Manchester Evening News: "I think the idea of councils coming together on this is a good one, and we will certainly look at it very sympathetically.
"Where there can be local decisions we are very happy for that to happen. It may be that we need to do something to help deliver the localist answer."
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) is currently working on a feasibility study, and plans to report in October. It will have to consider legal issues as well as the risk of "booze cruises" to nearby areas where alcohol was for sale more cheaply.
The prime minister also said that there would need to be work done on local competition rules for the laws to go ahead, but said in principle preventing the "deep discounting" of alcohol – as seen during the World Cup's supermarket price wars – was important.
"I think if what you're trying to do is stop supermarkets from selling 20 tins of Stella for a fiver that's what we've got to go after…People going and 'pre-loading', having bought from a supermarket where they were attracted by a price designed to bring them into the store," he said.
The plans would mean drinkers would pay at least £4.50 for a standard-sized bottle of wine or £6 for six cans of lager.
Andy Walker, from Our Life, the charity which pioneered the idea, told Channel 4 News the north west has one of the worst alcohol problems in the country.
"We conducted the largest ever regional survey on this, the Big Drink Debate," he said. "There was one stark statistic - 45 per cent of people in the north west avoid using their town centres at night because of the drunken acts of others."
There are also, of course, major health problems associated with the misuse of alcohol, which cost the NHS in the north west alone £400m a year.
Mr Walker added: "We have some significant issues in relation to alcohol harm in this region Six out of the ten worst local authority areas in the country are based in Greater Manchester. These are serious figures that demand serious action."
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the House of Commons Health Select Committee have both voiced support for minimum pricing to cutdown on health problems caused by alcohol misuse.
"We are all susceptible, we all like a bargain," said Mr Walker. "There's clear evidence of below cost selling to encourage footfall into supermarkets - cans of cider that are the same price as a can of Coca Cola. Across our region, there's been a major increase in the incidence of health problems related to alcohol like early onset liver disease and obesity.
"There are also social issues. The majority of domestic violence incidents in the UK are fuelled by alcohol, and around the World Cup this worsened."
Can minimum pricing work?
Minimum pricing would be more likely to hit supermarkets than pubs or bars, as they sell alcohol more cheaply.
Some pub owners believe it could level the playing field and revive the pub trade, but others say the law could never be implemented.
Gavin Partington at the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: "There is a substantial body of legal opinion that suggests minimum unit pricing of alcohol is illegal under European law. Some campaigners may wish otherwise but local authorities have no legal powers to introduce minimum unit pricing and government ministers have rejected the idea anyway.
"A 50p per unit minimum price would not address the problem of alcohol misuse. In fact it would simply raise prices for the vast majority who drink responsibly."
Mark Hasting of the British Beer & Pub Association told Channel 4 News: "We support and agree with the government's overall objective and believe they have a sound plan in place with regards to below cost selling.
"As the prime minister said, he intends to look into the detail of what is proposed in Manchester and it is riddled with practical obstacles, not least of which is every local authority in Britain setting its own price for products. So you could have 50p in Manchester, £1 in Leeds and £2 in Westminster.
"It would also be a licence to revisit cross-border shopping - not popping over the channel but instead popping between councils."
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has also said in the past that minimum pricing would hit "many low income households who don't drink irresponsibly".
The figure of 50p per unit was first introduced by the government's former chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson.
He said that if introduced nationally, it would reduce alcohol consumption by seven per cent, see alcohol-related deaths fall by 3,393 a year and result in 97,900 fewer hospital admissions, in addition to cutting drink-fuelled violence.
FactCheck: is Stella as cheap as Cameron thinks?
When David Cameron mentioned supermarkets "selling 20 tins of Stella for a fiver", in a newspaper interview the FactCheck team's ears pricked up.
David Cameron told us this week he was a fully paid-up member of the sharp-elbowed middle classes, so it should come as no surprise that he’s got an eye for a good bargain, writes Cathy Newman.
However FactCheck was surprised that someone of the PM’s social pedigree was quite so familiar with the cost of a few “tins” – as he so colloquially put it. Or was he not quite as lager-literate as he let on?
Whether you’re a member of the middle classes or the Bullingdon Club, is there really such a good deal to be had on Stella?
- Read the full analysis and Cathy Newman's verdict
Minimum pricing has also been looked at in other countries - Russia has already introduced the measure, and in Scotland it is being seriously considered. The policy is included in the Alcohol Bill currently on its legislative journey through the Scottish Executive, although last week ministers pledged to consider "workable alternatives" to minimum pricing after a cross-party alcohol summit, and also to introduce a clause to allow the policy to be reviewed once implemented.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "We agreed that action on price was an essential part of tackling Scotland's alcohol misuse problems.
"The Scottish government has proposed minimum pricing as the most effective way of doing this. However, following today's meeting we will consider any workable alternatives."
