It’s not often that I agree with a Labour MP (apart from Frank Field – who’s in the wrong party), but Tom Harris is one thoughtful MP, who’s blog is well worth reading.
This post about minimum pricing for alcohol is spot on.
The most important point is this:
And thirdly – and by far most importantly – minimum pricing of alcohol won’t work. Do you imagine that the type of person who gets blitzed on a 12-pack of Carlsberg from the local supermarket is going to see the new, increased price label and say to himself: “No, I can no longer afford to indulge my drinking habit. I will therefore save my money and spend it instead on books for my children.”?
Absolutely right. It’s not going to work, but all parties seem to be set on it. It will make no difference. The fact is that this country has relied on alcohol since its birth – it was better for us than the water! We have grown up around it, it oils our social lives and occasionally we have too much. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much else for large sections of our community to do, and occasionally turns into often, so Fridays and Saturdays become a drunkfest and town centres become no-go areas.
I don’t have a solution, if people had better things to do then maybe it could be reduced. Maybe aspiration is the key, but at the moment an aspiration for many is to get drunk at the weekend.
Squiffy. (Possibly aptly named).
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