Minimum Unit Pricing for Alcohol: A Solution or Just Another Tax Increase?
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Because of the rising deaths due to alcohol consumption ministers in England are being urged to have a minimum unit price as they have in Scotland
This will increase the price of cheap alcohol and theoretically be less affordable for alcoholics for example
I am not a heavy drinker and i applaud any solution to this big problem but i am not so sure this will work
It will become more difficult to purchase it if the prices increase, but for those addicted it will not matter, they will either do without other things , like food, affecting families or turn to stealing
Then there are drugs, some are vastly cheaper than alcohol and readily available, so will more drinkers turn to them for a cheaper method of recreation ?
Finally people might resort to making their own , i think you can still buy beer and wine kits , i used to do this many years ago as a hobby
And i am also not totally convinced ministers would be increasing prices for the right reason, it could be just another tax increase to plug that black hole
What do you think about this ?
People are turning to drunk cos they have little money and drink us a great way to escape it. It's the age old story for those in poverty
Jerseydrew That's true J , i just don't think raising the prices will make much difference, the state of the country needs to be addressed , that is what's causing people to be depressed , and if it doesn't improve more people will be turning to drink , drugs and crime
Well why not put the price up? They keep doing with it cigarette and as I smoker it's very annoying I don't drink at all smoking is my only thing I do
Leannexxx I don't smoke , and it does damage your health, but people should have freedom of choice , besides drinking causes as much if not more damage than smoking , not just to your health but to property and injuries through drunken assaults , but the government are still happy to take the taxes off people for drinking and smoking , that's why there will never be an outright ban, they are happy to increase the prices thus increasing the taxes
Wouldn't really bother me as I rarely drink alcohol unless on holiday somewhere. Just putting prices up is not the answer thou as cheap alcohol will still be relatively cheap even if they add say 10%, and even if it wasn't people who are reliant and have an addiction to it on it are likely to turn to stealing it anyway.
Increasing the prices isn't really going to make much of a difference tbh. If they want it they'll get it or get the money somehow the same way people with gambling addictions do
thepaxman That also makes me angry T, the government know how many people are addicted to gambling and it is on the increase
Yet they allow adverts like betfred etc to be plastered all over the tv screens in the intervals besides sports like football condoning it by advertising them on their sportswear
It goes to prove it is all about money and incoming revenue , no wonder the country is on its' knees and the people lost
I don’t know if this is the right thing to do or not but it’s always things like this and not limiting the reach that the alcohol companies have. Same with betting
Alcoholics will always find a way to get booze no matter how much they charge, just another excuse to raise prices , yet they do nothing about gambling
Alcohol is expensive enough that I never drink it and an increase is gonna stop drunkards? No.
That's something people need to be moderate and responsible with.
telmel For example, beer in a Portuguese cafe costs like £0.80 small or £1 medium while in England, it starts from £2~4.
In Gibraltar they're tax free, but their prices aren't cheap either.
PhilipMarc I think that's why people go crazy drinking too much on holiday as it's so cheap abroad
This will definitely hurt the wrong people the heavy drinkers I know will just spend less on other things
But why do they in the commons bar/ mp / parliament may barely anything for an alcoholic drink! Yet rampant up taxes on normal people !
I rarely drink at all but its annoying if I have to pay more for the little drink I buy and from what I've seen in Iceland many people don't even pay for their drink anyway. I've seen youngsters try to steal alcohol which was caught by the staff. I wouldn't have known if one of the staff hadn't spotted it. Same at Tesco Express pick up some cans, walk close to the entrance and just run out with the drink. The sales assistant tried to catch them but they were faster.
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