Cameron backs minimum alcohol price plan
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The Prime Minister says he would look "very sympathetically" at local authority moves to introduce a minimum price for alcohol but does not support a national rollout.
David Cameron
David Cameron says he supported councils in Greater Manchester that want to pass a bylaw to introduce a 50 pence per unit minimum to tackle binge drinking.
The Government has not previously backed minimum pricing but has pledged to ban the sale of alcohol below cost price.
Cameron told the Manchester Evening News that communities are welcome to pursue minimum pricing.
"I think the idea of councils coming together on this is a good one and we will certainly look at it very sympathetically," he says.
Medical bodies and the Government's own health advisors NICE back minimum pricing but most supermarkets and producers oppose it, arguing that it would unfairly penalise responsible drinkers.
Tesco, however, has said that it would support the policy if the Government decided to introduce it.
The Home Office launched a consultation last week to help define below cost sale.
Morrisons and Asda prefer a "below the cost of duty plus VAT" definition while other supermarkets want to ban sales below the cost of the invoice sent to retailers.
Readers' comments (6)
Anonymous | Thu, 12 Aug 2010 9:56 pm
penalise people who drink/drive severely.instead of people that drink sensibly and do not flaunt the law,keep alcohol prices affordable.
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Anonymous | Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:05 pm
I can see where they are coming from but it is a little unfair on the sensible drinker.
Perhaps instead put a maximum number of drinks you can buy in a pub or bar.
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Anonymous | Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:37 pm
About time the supermarkets were held accountable for these irresponsible prices.
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Anonymous | Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:38 pm
''Medical bodies and the Government's own health advisors NICE back minimum pricing but most supermarkets and producers oppose it''
This says it all!
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Sticky Pages | Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:57 pm
As usual trying to tackle an issue from the wrong end. It seems ever so easy and common now to slap a "lets put the price up to tackle that issue" approach without any thought or intelligence into the cause behind it.
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Anonymous | Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:58 pm
They are just doing the exact same thing that they did with cigarettes - escalating the tax on cigarettes and thus boosting the cost did little to stop smokers. Obviously, we are dealing with something that is not chemically addictive, but it is still a social epidemic. The problem needs to be tackled at the root from which it stems - the social phenomena that instils binge drinking culture.
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