Concerns over drink-fuelled violence and the growing number of cases of liver disease, the UK Government has proposed a minimum price for alcohol which would mean that drink would be sold at 40p a unit.
A unit is equivalent to1cl of alcohol and it is recommended that women do not exceed 2-3 units a day and men should drink no more than 3-4 units but many people exceed this and relaxing licensing laws seems to have done little to curb excessive drinking.
The plans are part of the alcohol strategy which has been drawn up by the Home Office. The strategy could also see restrictions being imposed such as banning late-night alcohol sales if they are causing problems locally and late-night licenses could cost more; the fees imposed would help counter the cost of policing venues.
The Government says that it is committed to overhauling the licencing act and this could mean that venues which consistently sell alcohol to children could be closed down and the maximum fines which could be imposed could be increased to £20,000.
There were 1 million alcohol-related crimes in the past year, the Government says, and a further 1.2 million were admitted to hospital as a result of their excessive drinking.
David Cameron has accepted that the plans would not be "universally popular" and they have already come under much criticism and the plans could be challenged. However, in a statement issued on Friday, the Prime Minister defended the proposals saying that the 40p per unit price - if imposed- could prevent 50,000 alcohol related crimes a year and 900 fewer alcohol related deaths annually. David Cameron also stated it would not affect the price of a pint in the pub.
However in a statement yesterday, the British Retail Consortium have already spoken out against the proposals. British Retail Consortium Food Director Andrew Opie said, said:
"David Cameron is seriously misguided. It's simplistic to imagine a minimum price is some sort of silver bullet solution to irresponsible drinking.
"Irresponsible drinking has cultural causes and retailers have been hugely engaged in information and education to change attitudes to drinking because that is what is working.
"It's a myth to suggest that supermarkets are the problem or that a pub is somehow a safer drinking environment. It's retailers not pubs that have led the way on preventing underage sales, providing unit labelling and funding the Drinkaware campaign. And retailers are active, founding participants in the Government's own Health Responsibly Deal.
"Government figures show overall alcohol consumption falling and that three quarters of men and over four fifths of women drink within official guidelines.
"People who buy alcohol in supermarkets buy it with a range of other items as part of their regular shop and take it home to drink over a period or share. Effectively, a minimum price is a tax on responsible drinkers."
A unit is equivalent to1cl of alcohol and it is recommended that women do not exceed 2-3 units a day and men should drink no more than 3-4 units but many people exceed this and relaxing licensing laws seems to have done little to curb excessive drinking.
The plans are part of the alcohol strategy which has been drawn up by the Home Office. The strategy could also see restrictions being imposed such as banning late-night alcohol sales if they are causing problems locally and late-night licenses could cost more; the fees imposed would help counter the cost of policing venues.
The Government says that it is committed to overhauling the licencing act and this could mean that venues which consistently sell alcohol to children could be closed down and the maximum fines which could be imposed could be increased to £20,000.
There were 1 million alcohol-related crimes in the past year, the Government says, and a further 1.2 million were admitted to hospital as a result of their excessive drinking.
David Cameron has accepted that the plans would not be "universally popular" and they have already come under much criticism and the plans could be challenged. However, in a statement issued on Friday, the Prime Minister defended the proposals saying that the 40p per unit price - if imposed- could prevent 50,000 alcohol related crimes a year and 900 fewer alcohol related deaths annually. David Cameron also stated it would not affect the price of a pint in the pub.
However in a statement yesterday, the British Retail Consortium have already spoken out against the proposals. British Retail Consortium Food Director Andrew Opie said, said:
"David Cameron is seriously misguided. It's simplistic to imagine a minimum price is some sort of silver bullet solution to irresponsible drinking.
"Irresponsible drinking has cultural causes and retailers have been hugely engaged in information and education to change attitudes to drinking because that is what is working.
"It's a myth to suggest that supermarkets are the problem or that a pub is somehow a safer drinking environment. It's retailers not pubs that have led the way on preventing underage sales, providing unit labelling and funding the Drinkaware campaign. And retailers are active, founding participants in the Government's own Health Responsibly Deal.
"Government figures show overall alcohol consumption falling and that three quarters of men and over four fifths of women drink within official guidelines.
"People who buy alcohol in supermarkets buy it with a range of other items as part of their regular shop and take it home to drink over a period or share. Effectively, a minimum price is a tax on responsible drinkers."
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