Updated alcohol strategy for England published

Here it is, the update to AHRSE that has been written behind closed doors: Safe.  Sensible. Social.  Yes it's really called that.

Comments

[James Morris]

Well said Tony. How very demeaning to those who work hard trying and learning how to implement alcohol strategy on the ground. Then again I suppose they want to be able to say what they want to say. For instance opaque 'actions' such as "is considering..." or "we will consider.."
Having said that, it is encouraging that local authorities and partners will have increased accountability to address local alcohol needs..

[Tony Goodall]

The final comment in the summary sounds very encouraging:- 'Finally, we all need to work together ---- by drawing on the skills and commitment of all those already working together to reduce the harm alcohol can cause, including the police, local authorities, prison and probation staff, the NHS, voluntary organisations, the alcohol industry, the wider business community, the media and, of course, local communities themselves.' If we are so valuable - why was this strategy drawn up without drawing on any of the benefits of those collective skills and commitment? Might we have collectively spent less pages saying how wonderful the AHRSE had been??