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I doubt she'll be allowed do anything drastic in the budget. It's the Alcohol Strategy, and requests for public submissions thereto, that we should we watching for.

hear her on ther radio today

two things 1 shes whacked in the head and 2 this is the pub mafias work again.

It's funny because her first name reminds me of a tayberry beer from Williams.

If the pubs think this will help them one jot they are living in cloud cuckoo land. They will never compete with the supermarkets on price. Even if the supermarkets are forced to raise their prices slightly by this legislation, they will still be a lot cheaper than the pubs.

If the minimum price was high enough to make supermarket beer the same price as pub beer, there would be a field day for alcohol smugglers and the tax take on alcohol would go down. No way [b:2wnpzue3]that [/b:2wnpzue3]is ever going to happen.

Minimum pricing is actually a very old concept and has been used here since before the formation of the state. Duty on alcohol, coupled with the fact that anyone selling alcohol wants to make a profit from it, made for a de-facto minimum price. The supermarket business model, where they are willing to forgo profit on alcohol in exchange for footfall, broke this system and resulted in less VAT being paid on cheaper alcohol. This is bad for the government.

When times were good and alcohol consumption was at it's peak, no one cared too much about what the supermarkets were doing. Now that the government is trying to get every cent it can lay it's hands on [b:2wnpzue3]and alcohol consumption has been in decline for a decade[/b:2wnpzue3] cheap supermarket alcohol is destroying the country?

This is just a patch on existing regulation and will help no one.
It will only affect people who buy bargain alcohol.
It will not affect pub drinkers, as they are already paying more than the minimum price.
It will not affect people shopping at the quality or premium end of the market as they are already paying more than the minimum price.
It will not change the habits of problem drinkers as many fall into the previous two categories and those who are buying cheap supermarket alcohol will simply pay the higher price and carry on regardless, or seek out cheaper alternatives, possibly from extra legal sources.

Do they really think it is the poor who are the problem drinkers or are they really just trying to maximise their revenue from VAT? Problem drinking is just the usual justification and it doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

"It's for your own good. Sure if it was too cheap you'd be drunk all the time and we'd never get a lick of work out of you."

&amp;quot;sbillings&amp;quot;:30k9djkn wrote: It will not affect pub drinkers, as they are already paying more than the minimum price. [/quote:30k9djkn]Maybe all the years of following this stuff has made me a teeny bit cynical, but would you be surprised if an extra 10c went onto a pint, and when questioned the landlord refers you to that price increase the government just put on?

&amp;quot;sbillings&amp;quot;:30k9djkn wrote: Do they really think it is the poor who are the problem drinkers[/quote:30k9djkn]Their research certainly gives them a reason to say so:

&amp;quot;Health Research Board&amp;quot;:30k9djkn wrote: The socio-demographic characteristics of cases, both new and previously-treated, remained similar throughout the reporting period. The majority of cases were male, with low levels of employment. The proportion of cases in employment fell in the years 2008 to 2010, possibly reflecting the current economic climate. The proportion of cases who were homeless fell slightly between 2008 and 2009, but rose again in 2010, new cases from 2.4% to 1.5% to 2.3%, and previously-treated cases from 6.9% to 5.0% to 6.5%. Those who used other substances as well as alcohol were more likely to be unemployed and to live in unstable accommodation.[/quote:30k9djkn]Link[/url:30k9djkn].