The Conservatives have launched their 2010 election manifesto, sticking to previously announced measures proposed to crack down on the causes of anti-social drinking including cheap, strong drinks. The manifesto states:
"Under Labour’s lax licensing regime, drink-fuelled violence and disorder are a blight on many communities. We will overhaul the Licensing Act to give local authorities and the police much stronger powers to remove licences from, or refuse to grant licences to, any premises that are causing problems. In addition, we will:- allow councils and the police to shut
down permanently any shop or bar found
persistently selling alcohol to children;
- double the maximum fine for under-age alcohol sales to £20,000;
- raise taxes on those drinks linked to antisocial
drinking, while abolishing Labour’s
new ‘cider tax’ on ordinary drinkers;
- ban off-licences and supermarkets from selling alcohol below cost price; and,
- permit local councils to charge more for latenight licences to pay for additional policing.
Most of the measures had been previously outlined in the party's green paper on public health and by Cameron speaking out against cheap high strength drinks. However proposals to scrap the alcohol units system appear to have been dropped.
It is not known yet whether the measures are supported by groups that have called for further action on the availability of cheap alcohol, in particular 'loss-leading' by supermarkets. Banning below cost selling would seek to prevent this, but the real term price effect is not clear nor how enforceable it will be. The green paper states they will 'work with competition regulators and retailers to find a fair formula that could be used to judge whether a product is being sold below cost'. The approach does not appear to have been assessed as having any likely impact on alcohol-related anti-social behaviour or health harms. Research by the University of Sheffield indicates that pricing measures will only be significantly effective from around a 40 pence per unit mark, a price range thought unlikely to be reached by banning 'below cost' sales.
Alcohol Concern have previously welcomed the Conservative's proposals on taxes to address cheap alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour, but commented:
"Measures of this kind would be a positive step ...But it’s limiting to target teenagers when alcohol misuse occurs among all age groups. Introducing a minimum price for alcohol will reduce harmful drinking, cutting crime and hospital admissions, while having little impact on sensible drinkers."
In recent years various health interests, alcohol groups and the Chief Medical Officer have called for minimum pricing in order to reduce alcohol harm. Whilst the Liberal Democrats support it, Labour say they have not ruled it out until they have further established the full likely impact. The Scottish National Party have so far been stalled by opposition parties in attempts to bring in minimum pricing.
See here for alcohol proposals in the 2010 Labour manifesto.
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