boozed-up on the cheap…
Now, I like a pint, or two, but this is a question we have to ask: Is it time to price out the bingers?
Scotland’s health minister has bravely proposed a minimum ‘alcohol unit’ price of 45p per unit, which would force supermarkets to markedly raise prices. A bottle of Asda vodka would rise from £7.97 to £11.81, while a four-pack of Carlsberg Special Brew (possibly the most foul tasting liquid ever invented) would increase from £6.16 to £9.10. A three-litre of Tesco’s finest vintage super strong cider would rise to £7.43 from a paltry and liver-shrinking £2.90.
It has prompted a predictable response from free-market Tories (and liberals let’s not forget). “It is clear that the public does not support these plans and the vast majority believe it would make no difference to their alcohol consumption blathered Tory health spokesman Murdo Fraser. The Centre for Economics chipped in with “the case for minimum pricing is extremely weak”. Maybe they’ve never been to Reading, Cardiff, Liverpool or any other of Britain’s booze-blitzed town centres on a weekend night.
The ‘vast majority’ are (if this is indeed the case?) just plain wrong. If they truly believe that raising prices makes no difference to their booze consumption then frankly, they’ve been on the cooking sherry way too early in the day. A significant hike in price will lead to a fall in consumption and any other conclusion is moonshine.
If the Scots need convincing about price controls, they just need to look over the North Sea. Sweden is famous for high alcohol prices but restrictions in Norway are perhaps the tightest. Supermarkets aren’t allowed to sell spirits or wine, only low-alcohol beer. Pubs charge wallet-watering prices that encourage drivers to leave after the proverbial quickie. Obviously, our socially liberal, permissive Scandinavian cousins have no hang-ups about controlling alcohol abuse, yet here in free-market binge-Britain any such suggestion of price hike or telling the supermarkets what they can and cannot sell is met with abject horror. The nanny state has already taken our fags, how dare they take our last remaining pleasure?
What exactly might that pleasure be? Ah, liver disease, massively spiralling NHS costs or some idiot ‘offering you out’ on a quiet Wednesday evening! Scotland led the way on the smoking ban and now it’s going to be the first to take on the booze barons. The Government would do well to recall that when a plan for minimum pricing was floated in Manchester last year, one influential Tory spoke out in its favour. His name? David Cameron. Och aye tha nooo…
