8:09am Friday 3rd September 2010
By Dan Bean
ALCOHOL awareness groups and York Central MP Hugh Bayley have welcomed proposed changes to the taxation and price of alcohol to help reduce alcohol abuse.
National charity Alcohol Concern sent a statement to the Treasury which requested the Government add a ten per cent increase on duty on stronger beers and ciders, between 3.7 per cent and 5.2 per cent ABV.
Mr Bayley told a meeting of the York branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), he supported the idea of laying a higher tax on stronger drinks, as he believed this would help curb heavy drinking and alcohol harm.
He said he was “instinctively” in favour of the move, and there was a “credible case” for lower tax on beers than spirits, and that minimum pricing per unit would not harm responsible drinkers.
The proposal also requests drinks above 5.2 per cent be hit with another ten per cent rise in duty, which would crack down on the sale of the strongest drinks, which are often sold at a loss by supermarkets.
If the proposed duty increase was passed, a 7.5 per cent ABV cider currently selling for £1.96 would have to sell for £3.50.
Phil Hulmes, chief officer of alcohol awareness charity York Alcohol Advice Service (YAAS), welcomed the proposal. He said: “I think it will be helpful to everyone if price was a reflection of the quantity of alcohol, the ABV, to let consumers know just how many units they were drinking.
“I also agree with minimum pricing because I think the cost is extremely cheap, relative to income. Alcohol is a drug, and has some nasty side effects, and price is an obvious way to police that without penalising any social group.”
“It might even encourage people back into pubs where drinking is done under supervision, rather than in streets or gardens.”
Mr Bayley also said “there was no evidence whatsoever” in York to support claims by the Coalition Government that the last shake up of licensing laws in 2003 had had a negative effect.
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