Looks like it’s coming, regardless of where in the UK you live.
The Supreme Court has just turned down the final appeal regarding its implementation in Scotland, clearing the way for similar law to be introduced in the other countries too.
I wonder if any of the other EU countries will also try it?
yeah, a bottle of red wine, typical strength will be about 9 or 10 units, so will likely impact wine when it’s on offer or promotion (25% for 6 bottles, say) rather than the standard price.
I have no problem with the underlying idea, but I don’t think this is a good way to go. As it is a minimum price the extra “profit” goes to the shop, it would have been better as a tax where the state/society benefits.
it would have been better as a tax where the state/society benefits.
Yeh generally agree, however a blanket tax hike on alcahol would be unpopular and have everyone kicking off, I suppose this is an ‘easier’ way to do it..
I work in the wine trade and generally anything under £5 a bottle isn’t worth drinking so minimum pricing at 50p a unit won’t hurt our sales. If anything, it might help them as supermarkets will struggle to push their £3.99 loss leader bottles. As others have said, beer drinkers won’t be out of pocket either.
The only losers here are the white cider / superstrength lager producers, which can only be a good thing for society.
Ahh, yeh I suppose it won’t really affect wine then either.
Well – look at you paying more than £4.50 a bottle! 😀
And it will all shift up accordingly to differentiate between perceived ‘quality’ wines and beers. So your £7 wine will become £9, your £13 box of Peroni will become £16 etc.
Don’t be sucked in by the 50p per unit not impacting prices for normal drinkers, it is the thin end of the wedge to get the principal established with minimum fuss.
devash – Member
I work in the wine trade and generally anything under £5 a bottle isn’t worth drinking so minimum pricing at 50p a unit won’t hurt our sales. If anything, it might help them as supermarkets will struggle to push their £3.99 loss leader bottles. As others have said, beer drinkers won’t be out of pocket either.
The only losers here are the white cider / superstrength lager producers, which can only be a good thing for society.
re wine: will it push up prices in the current 10 to 20 quid bracket? there will just be an increase across the board, no?
It might be more effective to spend money on effective treatment programmes and other steps to tackle the underlying social problems that can lead to alcoholism.
But instead we’re reminded there’s no magic money tree unless votes need buying.
The only losers here are the white cider / superstrength lager producers, which can only be a good thing for society.
Yep, as far as I can see the only drinks badly are affected are the ones being bought simply to get drunk (in most cases), and therefore not that different from substance abuse of other varieties.
As regards the superstength cheapo ciders – again my guess is the market for these will disappear as decent cider becomes the same price as industrial rotgut. Who would drink Frosty Jacks over say strongbow when they are the same price per unit alcohol?
NOpe – all it does is set a floor below which the price cannot fall
So all the cheap bottles just become a fiver and the fiver bottles stay the same? doubt that very much.
tbh, it’s all a nonsense, price isn’t really all that much of a factor in people getting wasted. the likes of bucky aren’t even all that cheap, it’s about 7 quid a bottle.
As regards the superstength cheapo ciders – again my guess is the market for these will disappear as decent cider becomes the same price as industrial rotgut. Who would drink Frosty Jacks over say strongbow when they are the same price per unit alcohol?
But they won’t be the same price – the brands will price their products at a higher level. And the cheap stuff will be a bit dearer.
I remember the same wailing and gnashing of teeth when the smoking ban came about, and that’s turned out not too bad…
Tbh, I’m not sure it’ll really work, but I feel this country, and I mean Scotland in particular, needs something done to address our relationship with ‘the swally’.
Is there evidence to show that higher prices reduces alcohol addiction
Probably not but remember that this is about more than addiction, it is also meant to try and tackle the anti social and negative health effects of excessive drinking.
Frankly using economics is probably a better way of trying to nudge behaviour than anything else that is available.
@Nobeer – I remember being in Dublin with work about a year after the Irish introduced a smoking ban. Even in that short period there were noticeable health benefits.
The attitude to alcohol of a significant proportion of the UK’s population is not going to be solved by a single solution. In the same way that there’s a hardcore minority who continue to smoke there’ll be a large number who will continue to misuse alcohol but they should be the exception rather than the norm.
Is there evidence to show that higher prices reduces alcohol addiction…?
No there isn’t. As someone who has an alcoholic in the (extended) family I know that it will mean less money to spend on the essentials. Complete and utter bollocks. Education is the way to go not increasing the cost.
Probably not but remember that this is about more than addiction, it is also meant to try and tackle the anti social and negative health effects of excessive drinking.
Then They should make the pubs and bars landlords responsible for having drunk people on there premises like they used to be and then they would not serve people who were already legless then turning them out on the streets to be a problem for our struggling police forces and nhs
No there isn’t. As someone who has an alcoholic in the (extended) family I know that it will mean less money to spend on the essentials. Complete and utter bollocks. Education is the way to go not increasing the cost.
Education? who in their right mind doesn’t realise alcoholism isn’t a good place to be?.
As said earlier, it’s not really designed to sort out acute alcoholism, but the social bingers who are at the start of that path.