Difference between revisions of "Globalisation:Minimum Pricing and EU Law"
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===JUST DRINKS=== | ===JUST DRINKS=== | ||
| − | Alcohol and it’s consumption have become art of the forefront of political debate. There have been plans for cutting binge drinking and alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour, which can cost the UK millions of pounds each year. The ‘Just Drinks’ website published an article called ‘UK: Mixing alcohol and politics,’ which stated that it is most likely that any political party will introduce duties on alcohol, the question is whether they will introduce duties onto all alcoholic drinks or just onto certain categories. The article found that 23% of people thought labour were most likely to put alcohol prices up the most compared to the conservatives who received 20% of the votes. The conservatives have suggested targeting specific categories of drinks for minimum pricing such as super strength beer and cider. The argument against this says that this is too small a category therefore it will not make a significant enough impact to alcohol abuse. Labour have not been so forthcoming with their view on this as they say that they do not want to rule out minimum pricing however Home Secretary Alan Johnson says that they do not want to penalise responsible drinkers on low incomes. The Wilson Drinks Report suggests that minimum pricing may not actually work as it is intended because 21% of drinkers would purchase less alcohol if prices were increased by 25%. Over 50% of drinkers would either just pay more for alcohol or choose a cheaper option. The question which the article previously mentioned arises is whether minimum pricing can realistically tackle the problems of alcohol abuse in Britain. <ref>“[http://www.just-drinks.com/article.aspx?id=99692&lk=dmf Research: UK: Mixing Alcohol and Politics]” (Accessed 16/03/2010)<ref/> | + | Alcohol and it’s consumption have become art of the forefront of political debate. There have been plans for cutting binge drinking and alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour, which can cost the UK millions of pounds each year. The ‘Just Drinks’ website published an article called ‘UK: Mixing alcohol and politics,’ which stated that it is most likely that any political party will introduce duties on alcohol, the question is whether they will introduce duties onto all alcoholic drinks or just onto certain categories. The article found that 23% of people thought labour were most likely to put alcohol prices up the most compared to the conservatives who received 20% of the votes. The conservatives have suggested targeting specific categories of drinks for minimum pricing such as super strength beer and cider. The argument against this says that this is too small a category therefore it will not make a significant enough impact to alcohol abuse. Labour have not been so forthcoming with their view on this as they say that they do not want to rule out minimum pricing however Home Secretary Alan Johnson says that they do not want to penalise responsible drinkers on low incomes. The Wilson Drinks Report suggests that minimum pricing may not actually work as it is intended because 21% of drinkers would purchase less alcohol if prices were increased by 25%. Over 50% of drinkers would either just pay more for alcohol or choose a cheaper option. The question which the article previously mentioned arises is whether minimum pricing can realistically tackle the problems of alcohol abuse in Britain. <ref>“[http://www.just-drinks.com/article.aspx?id=99692&lk=dmf Research: UK: Mixing Alcohol and Politics]” (Accessed 16/03/2010) <ref/> |
Revision as of 10:50, 16 March 2010
MINIMUM PRICING DEBATE
JUST DRINKS
Alcohol and it’s consumption have become art of the forefront of political debate. There have been plans for cutting binge drinking and alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour, which can cost the UK millions of pounds each year. The ‘Just Drinks’ website published an article called ‘UK: Mixing alcohol and politics,’ which stated that it is most likely that any political party will introduce duties on alcohol, the question is whether they will introduce duties onto all alcoholic drinks or just onto certain categories. The article found that 23% of people thought labour were most likely to put alcohol prices up the most compared to the conservatives who received 20% of the votes. The conservatives have suggested targeting specific categories of drinks for minimum pricing such as super strength beer and cider. The argument against this says that this is too small a category therefore it will not make a significant enough impact to alcohol abuse. Labour have not been so forthcoming with their view on this as they say that they do not want to rule out minimum pricing however Home Secretary Alan Johnson says that they do not want to penalise responsible drinkers on low incomes. The Wilson Drinks Report suggests that minimum pricing may not actually work as it is intended because 21% of drinkers would purchase less alcohol if prices were increased by 25%. Over 50% of drinkers would either just pay more for alcohol or choose a cheaper option. The question which the article previously mentioned arises is whether minimum pricing can realistically tackle the problems of alcohol abuse in Britain. <ref>“Research: UK: Mixing Alcohol and Politics” (Accessed 16/03/2010) Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
