- Cider is the cheapest available product in England and is being sold for as little as 19p per unit of alcohol, meaning that consumers can reach the weekly low-risk drinking guideline of 14 units of alcohol for just £2.68.
- One bottle of the cheapest cider contains more alcohol than eight pints of beer – and costs 8p less than a single pint in a pub.
- For the price of a standard cinema ticket (£7.11), you could buy two bottles of wine, containing 19.5 units, and have 13p change leftover.
- A 1-litre bottle of vodka, which contains 37.5 units, is cheaper than a large pizza at Domino’s (£14.99).
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, said:
“The low price of high strength alcohol continues to cause colossal damage to the health of our nation. Alcohol is linked to 80 deaths in the UK every day, as well as seven types of cancer and stroke.
“To tackle the harm alcohol causes, we need to urgently address its price. Alcohol duty is currently too low to cover the costs of alcohol harm to our society. Public Health England estimates that alcohol costs the UK at least £27 billion a year. Yet over the past five years, alcohol duty has raised just £10.5-£12.1 billion annually. To pay for the costs to society that alcohol imposes, stronger drinks should be taxed more per unit of alcohol. Reforming alcohol duty will help create a fairer system for everyone as well as improving our nation’s health."
The calls follow Scotland's implementation of minimum unit pricing (MUP) in 2018 after a protracted legal battle, with evidence appearing to point to positive changes in heavy drinking.
Recent Comments