UK government 'too influenced' by supermarkets and drinks industry, report says
January 11, 2010 Shirley Kumar
The UK government is too influenced by supermarkets and the drinks industry, according to a new report issued by MPs.
The Commons health committee said the drinks industry and supermarkets hold more power over the government than health experts and called for a minimum price for alcohol, a rise in duty and much tighter regulations.
But Prime Minister Gordon Brown dismissed the idea of minimum pricing when it was suggested last year by Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, saying it would unfairly hit the majority who are moderate drinkers.
The average moderate drinker would pay 11 pence more per week for alcohol if a minimum price of 40 pence per unit was set, the report said.
MPs said it would force a switch to weaker wines and beers.
The change would increase the cost of a 10% abv wine to £2.80, a 13% abv wine to £3.40 and a 15% abv wine to £4.20.
'It is not widely known that there are about nine units in a bottle of 13% wine,' the report said.
'A woman drinking half a bottle of wine a day is consuming over 30 units a week, which is more than twice the recommended levels.'
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association chief executive Jeremy Beadles said that the report 'is just part of the concerted campaign by elements of the health lobby to punish millions of hard-working people while doing nothing to tackle the problem few.'
Other recommendations included the mandatory labelling of drinks with warnings and details of units, restrictions on advertising and promotions and a ban on alcohol ads on social networking websites.
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What intrigued me about this story was the way that it was initially reported on Friday on the radio exactly as this, that the influence was from both the supermarkets and the drinks industry. By 8am, it was just the drinks industry....no mention of the supermarkets any more. Emma Bridge
A woman drinking half a bottle of wine a day is doing herself a great deal of good - and her family also.
A glass late afternoon, another with dinner, perhaps with a small top-up and a small glass after dinner relaxing is very compatabile with health and with a good family relationship.
Any thought that this needs to be in some way 'punished' by tax is an abuse by the tax system - and therefore by the Government. Peter Saunders, New Zealand
The report states that “a woman drinking half a bottle of wine a day is consuming…. more than twice the recommended level”. Half a bottle a day = 182 bottles a year = 136 litres. Half of 136 = 67.5 (the recommended level).
What is the average annual per.capita.consumption among UK women? Nowhere near 67.5 litres. Talk about punishing the millions to tackle the problem few! Richard Coleshaw
It was not the main subject matter which grabbed my attention but the last line of your report - that advertising on social networking sites should be banned. I have written to my MP accordingly.
Let us put on the record that social networking sites allow the advertiser to promote their products only to those who are interested. We advertise our range of Single Estate Cognacs on Facebook. We do this only to those who are over 25 and have listed their interests to include cognac and whisky. By doing this we are acting, we believe, in the most responsible way possible.
No child, nor indeed anyone under 25, will see our advertisement, that is how it should be and long may this continue. However if the proposed ban on social networking adverts were to become effective then we would have to resort to less targeted means with the possibility that the adverts might be seen by minors.
It would appear that some MP's have no understanding of how these things actually work, but are just pontificating on something about which they know nothing in the hope of some publicity - but I suppose there is little change there then… Peter Bowyer
What a splendidly topical and ironic reminder of the ignorance and prejudices of our political representatives (synonym, one who has no qualifications in or for anything). Unfortunately what Mr. Brown, and his similarly scientifically semi-literate colleagues are unable to comprehend (or are too disingenuous to admit) is that the proportion of excessive drinkers in the population exist in a constant ratio with the average consumption of the population. Consumption, in turn, is inexorably related to availability (perhaps because we all have trouble controlling our tendencies to indulge more, when possible). Availability is substantially financial, but is also contributed by factors with different weight in different cultures and situations: these are primarily, peer pressure and physical availability (try getting through your snow to the off-license tonight!).
So, minimum/average price has the major impact on the proportion of the population that will experience harm from alcohol, because it is the main factor influencing availability.
The irony is the recent dismissal of Prof Nutt from the drugs advisory committee chair (and the dismissal of advice from Sir Liam Donaldson). This is another revealing example of the ill-informed prejudice that could threaten a return to the middle ages by denial of reality and science. They are free to propose the adoption Sharia law and chop hands off for theft, pot-smoking, or whatever. But, do not insult me by claiming cannabis is a dangerous class A drug, or alcohol is so harmless it should be almost free, so Brown can 'Pilate' himself of blame for inaction in ameliorating the resultant harm and be a 'polls-tart'. Dr Ken Gillman, Australia
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Shirley Kumar
What intrigued me about this story was the way that it was initially reported on Friday on the radio exactly as this, that the influence was from both the supermarkets and the drinks industry. By 8am, it was just the drinks industry....no mention of the supermarkets any more. Emma Bridge
