Last orders for cheap booze?
By: JimOldfield
December 3rd, 2012
The last orders bell is about to ring for cheap booze, as the Government reveals plans to ban multi-buy offers and slap a minimum price of 45p on a unit of alcohol.
If implemented, a can of strong lager could not be sold for less than about £1.56 and a four-pack of 4.0 per cent beer would cost at least £3.17.
Ministers hope the measures will cut alcohol related deaths by 700 a year, and result in 24,000 fewer annual hospital admissions and 5,000 crimes. They also believe it will cut total alcohol consumption by 3.3 per cent.
The plans have been welcomed by bosses at giant Suffolk brewers Greene King and Adnams, but have troubled the Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) which represents many of the UKs major brewers and pub owners.
Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand, wanted the minimum unit price to be set even higher at 50p, but said the move was ““an important step in helping to address the UK’s long- term problems associated with binge drinking and alcohol-related social disorder”.
Adnams said all their products were already sold at prices well above the 45p unit rate.
But Brigid Simmonds, BBPA chief executive, said beer drinkers would be the hardest-hit on a ban on multi-buy offers, and that “minimum pricing would penalise a sensible majority of people who drink in moderation”.
However, the European Commission have warned that minimum pricing may breach EU free trade rules by curbing imports.
The plans are thought unlikely to affect prices in pubs or restaurants, but would force up the cost for shoppers, of 72 per cent of lagers and 34 per cent of beers in supermarkets and off-licences.
Estimates suggest moderate drinkers will have to spend an extra £7 per year, while the bill for heavy drinkers would go up by £118.
Announcing the plans and 10-week consultation, Home Office minister Damien Green, said: “The evidence is clear – the availability of cheap alcohol contributes to harmful levels of drinking. It can’t be right that it is possible to purchase a can of beer for as little as 20p”.
