Minimum alcohol price.

[hairy]

Cant believe I am now going to have to pay 38p for a can of lager, thats my binge drinking days over! With prices that high I doubt anyone will bother drinking anymore, just got to decide whether to use smack or crack to make life a little more bareable.

On a more serious note I see the government hasnt the balls to tackle the big supermarket chains but is happy to hammer the dying pub trade.

[Gavin Archery]

Big supermarket chains, employ lots of people and pay lots of corporation tax. So are friends of every govt.

[Pogue Mahone]

You sure they pay lots of Corp Tax?

[Gavin Archery]

Well they make lots of profits in the UK and don't have lots of losses to offset agianst them, then again I expect they claim lots of first year allowances against new metro stores (Tesco)

[amarillo]

When you think about it, alcohol really should be more expensive than it is. It costs the country a fortune in anti-social behaviour, violence, cost to the NHS etc. In real terms (ie relative to earnings) the cost of alcohol here must be about the lowest in the world.

But yes, as usual the government won't take on big business. They always prefer to hit the easy targets

[Pogue Mahone]

Jan 18, 2011 16:03:11 GMT Gavin Archery said:

Well they make lots of profits in the UK and don't have lots of losses to offset agianst them, then again I expect they claim lots of first year allowances against new metro stores (Tesco)

Just like Google make billions in the USA, but pay Corp Tax in Ireland as it's a lower rate....? Think you should go and have a check before harping on about taxes pal.

[Boogaloo]

Jan 18, 2011 16:04:00 GMT amarillo said:

When you think about it, alcohol really should be more expensive than it is. It costs the country a fortune in anti-social behaviour, violence, cost to the NHS etc. In real terms (ie relative to earnings) the cost of alcohol here must be about the lowest in the world.

But yes, as usual the government won't take on big business. They always prefer to hit the easy targets

I disagree on that. Why should the sensible majority who like a few beers/glasses of wine at the weekend suffer because of a few moronic idiots who think it's 'cool' to act like an absolute bell-end every Friday/Saturday night?

I agree with you that the additional cost to the Police, NHS etc needs to be clawed back, but why not target the perpetrators? It annoys me when I hear about people getting arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour, and are put in a cell and fined £50. What sort of a detterant is that? They'll be doing the same next week, and the week after, and the week after that! No, hit them with a proper fine like £250 or even £400 - That will do the trick.

[amarillo]

Totally agree that the perpetrators should be hit harder, but I just think it would be easy to justify raising the price of alcohol generally, because it is very cheap here and its not just a few idiots, its quite a lot...

[Lone Gunman]

The binge drinking culture as i see it, has very little to do with the pub trade. If everyone drank in the pub there wouldn't be half as much antisocial behaviour, violence and illness as there is now.

The supermarkets are the ones squarely to blame, selling cheap, sh!t alcohol so that people can get rat-arsed at home and then go out to the pub, neck some chap p!ss lager or cocktail and then kick off.

IMO the government should be doing eveything it can to promote the pub trade in this country. If nothing else the pub is often the heart of community and thus their 'big society' (what the f#ck does that actually mean?) Especially in rural areas now that successive governments have ripped all the other organs, such as local shops and post offices, out.

[fredwest]

maybe they should hit the wanky students first with their subsidised cheap bars and student discounts.........dont hold ya breath tho

[amarillo]

Jan 18, 2011 18:36:16 GMT fredwest said:

maybe they should hit the wanky students first with their subsidised cheap bars and student discounts.........dont hold ya breath tho

Why? students get pissed but they don't generally fight in the streets, beat their wives, drink-drive etc etc. Regardless of what you think of students, it isn't that sector of society causing problems. For that you should look closer to home.

Agree with lone gunman, pubs should be promoted and make them more inclusive - more family friendly, more seating, more snacks and coffees served as well etc

[HKYellow]

Same, I agree with Lone Gunman but maybe we are a older crowd. When I was young, we use to go out to catch up with mates, meet a nice girl. Dont understand why people want to go out, get pissed, then look for a fight.

But it does scare me why more and more people are drinking excessively in the UK.

[Up The Manor]

Jan 18, 2011 17:29:54 GMT Lone Gunman said:

The binge drinking culture as i see it, has very little to do with the pub trade. If everyone drank in the pub there wouldn't be half as much antisocial behaviour, violence and illness as there is now.

The supermarkets are the ones squarely to blame, selling cheap, sh!t alcohol so that people can get rat-arsed at home and then go out to the pub, neck some chap p!ss lager or cocktail and then kick off.

IMO the government should be doing eveything it can to promote the pub trade in this country. If nothing else the pub is often the heart of community and thus their 'big society' (what the f#ck does that actually mean?) Especially in rural areas now that successive governments have ripped all the other organs, such as local shops and post offices, out.

I for 1 ,don't want supermarket prices to go up...have not looked into it much,but a mate said,it was things like putting a bottle of vodka up to £10 etc...?But the supermarket by the way,are not going to like that as chaps will not buy the cheap shit as you call it!
Yes you are right,no one drinks in the pubs now....lets pissed before they go out about 11ish,then hit a club or a late pub...pubs are dieing one a day!With doubt the Supermarkets have done this...why go out when you can get 24 cans for £!0

[fredwest]

I cant see what all the fuss is about theyve got it all wrong IMO,there was much more violence in pubs say ..30 years ago,the problem these days is that young blokes have a snort of the white stuff before they go out,so you get pubs full of coked up young men who ALL think theyre THE MAN light the fuse...........................

there ya go ...no need to bullshit just to hike prices.........get to know the real reason

[Lone Gunman]

Jan 19, 2011 10:36:24 GMT HKYellow said:

Same, I agree with Lone Gunman but maybe we are a older crowd. When I was young, we use to go out to catch up with mates, meet a nice girl. Dont understand why people want to go out, get pissed, then look for a fight.

But it does scare me why more and more people are drinking excessively in the UK.

I'm certainly not an older crowd, i just don't buy into the whole binge drinking culture of getting battered all the time and generally acting the goat. As i see it, cheap supermarket booze is the issue rather than (comparatively) expensive pub booze.

I think the problem goes much deeper than drink though. I might go to the pub and get absolutely w#nkered on occasion, but the first thing I do upon leaving the alehouse isn't smack someone or commit an act of criminal damage. If I can get p#ssed and not cause trouble, it has to be something more than drink alone which is driving others to commit criminal acts while drunk.

[amarillo]

Jan 19, 2011 22:37:35 GMT Lone Gunman said:

I think the problem goes much deeper than drink though. I might go to the pub and get absolutely w#nkered on occasion, but the first thing I do upon leaving the alehouse isn't smack someone or commit an act of criminal damage. If I can get p#ssed and not cause trouble, it has to be something more than drink alone which is driving others to commit criminal acts while drunk.

Thats a good point. Booze causes people to lose their inhibitions, but it doesn't make someone violent. That violence comes from within that person.

[Boogaloo]

But will increasing the price of booze stop it? The fact of the matter is that if someone wants get completely trolleyed, and act like a knob, then they will REGARDLESS of the price, unless you plan on charging something ridiculous like £10 a pint or forcing supermarkets to charge £10 for a 4-pack of the beer of their choice. And even then, they'll find a way around it, whether it be wine, spirits or even home-brew.

As I said you need to get to the root cause, and punish the offenders more severely - I watched some programme on Bravo and some bloke broke someone's nose in an unprovoked attack and got a £80 fine for it. For goodness sake, you get fined more for driving in the Bus Lane in London!

[Lone Gunman]

Jan 20, 2011 12:22:54 GMT Boogaloo said:

But will increasing the price of booze stop it? The fact of the matter is that if someone wants get completely trolleyed, and act like a knob, then they will REGARDLESS of the price, unless you plan on charging something ridiculous like £10 a pint or forcing supermarkets to charge £10 for a 4-pack of the beer of their choice. And even then, they'll find a way around it, whether it be wine, spirits or even home-brew.

As I said you need to get to the root cause, and punish the offenders more severely - I watched some programme on Bravo and some bloke broke someone's nose in an unprovoked attack and got a £80 fine for it. For goodness sake, you get fined more for driving in the Bus Lane in London!

Agree with all those points. Simply making alcohol more expensive will not solve the prblem. There are deeper societal factors at work i think.

I would say that encouraging pub drinking rather than drinking at home would be a solution, as when you are drinking in a pub environment is it far more regulated, and it is easier to prevent trouble before it happens.

A decrease in the ready availibilty and cheap pricing of alcohol, and an all out effort to shift drinkers off the sofa and onto a bar-stool combined with more powers for landlords and harsher sentencing for those who do not comply would be a decent platform on which to build.

[amarillo]

Jan 20, 2011 12:22:54 GMT Boogaloo said:

But will increasing the price of booze stop it? The fact of the matter is that if someone wants get completely trolleyed, and act like a knob, then they will REGARDLESS of the price, unless you plan on charging something ridiculous like £10 a pint or forcing supermarkets to charge £10 for a 4-pack of the beer of their choice. And even then, they'll find a way around it, whether it be wine, spirits or even home-brew.

As I said you need to get to the root cause, and punish the offenders more severely - I watched some programme on Bravo and some bloke broke someone's nose in an unprovoked attack and got a £80 fine for it. For goodness sake, you get fined more for driving in the Bus Lane in London!

Yep totally agree. I still think price is a factor, which was the original issue and am fine with givernment plans to raise prices (slightly) but totally with you that increased punishment for offenders is the only way to tackle the social issues surrounding alcohol.