Ideal Queen's Speech: Reinstate minimum unit alcohol price plans

“My Government will introduce a bill to set a minimum price for a unit of alcohol as a condition of license.”

In the government’s 2012 Alcohol Strategy, the Prime Minister wrote about the UK’s drink problem, stating that a real effort must be made to ‘get to grips with the root cause of the problem. And that means coming down hard on cheap alcohol.’

‘So’, wrote Mr Cameron, ‘we are going to introduce a minimum unit price. For the first time it will be illegal for shops to sell alcohol for less than this set price per unit.’

‘Of course,’ he continued, ‘I know the proposals in this strategy won’t be universally popular. But the responsibility of being in government isn’t always about doing the popular thing. It’s about doing the right thing. Binge drinking is a serious problem. And I make no excuses for clamping down on it.’

Each of these statements was completely correct when the strategy was written, and they remain so even after the government ditched its plans for minimum unit pricing. Research shows harmful behaviour such as underage and binge drinking are sensitive to a change in price. For this reason, Addactionhave consistently called for an end to the cut-price sale of alcohol in supermarkets and shops.

The facts are irrefutable: 40% of domestic violence cases and 50% of child protection cases involve alcohol. Alcohol can cause immense harm and puts huge pressure on our police forces and our hospitals. Responsible consumption poses no threat to families and communities, but negative patterns of behaviour around alcohol all too often end with very serious consequences.

Addaction’s recently published Alcohol and Crime Commission Reportindicates the extent of the problem: 70% of respondents to a survey of prisoners said they had been drinking when they committed the crime for which they were incarcerated, but only 38% thought their drinking was an issue. This reinforces what we already know. Binge drinking is the socially acceptable face of substance misuse in this country and not enough is being done to address these harmful patterns of behaviour and their damaging consequences.

One of the main arguments against minimum unit pricing is that it would punish responsible drinkers. Addaction strongly disagrees with this assumption, as the evidence shows that the amount an average drinker spends would increase by only 28p a week. That’s a minimal difference.

Instead, we would see a real difference in the £3.5 billion annual cost to the NHS of alcohol harm, the 1.1 million hospital admissions from preventable alcohol-related illness or injury, and the huge numbers of offenders caught in a cycle of alcohol-related criminal behaviour.

Make no mistake, this policy is no ‘magic bullet’ – much more can and should be done besides – but it is a positive step in the right direction. The government were wrong to turn away from their initial plans for minimum unit pricing and Addactionwould strongly welcome its introduction.