Failure to adopt Scottish alcohol price rule ‘could cost 1,000 lives’
MORE THAN 1,000 lives could be lost if England fails to mirror Scotland’s sweeping reforms to alcohol pricing within five years, campaigners have warned.
Medical leaders have joined with a leading children’s organisation and a homelessness charity to call for minimum unit pricing (MUP) to be implemented south of the border.
The changes, coming into effect in Scotland on Tuesday, will drive up the price of bargain booze by setting a floor price below which a unit of alcohol cannot be sold.
It is hoped the move will curb alcohol related death and illnesses, while slashing crime and lessening the burden excessive drinking places on the health service.
The Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA), a group of more than 50 medical organisations including the British Medical Association, Royal College of GPs and Alcohol Concern, has now launched an intervention with the Children’s Society and homelessness charity Thames Reach. They said that a delay of five years could lead to more than 1,000 people dying in England from alcohol-related problems. MUP would not affect bars and pubs in England, instead pushing up the price of cheap supermarket vodka and super-strength lagers which are popular with street drinkers and other vulnerable groups, the group said. Chair of AHA Sir Ian Gilmore, inset, said: “Cheap alcohol is wrecking lives and livelihoods in England as well as Scotland.
“There are more than 23,000 deaths a year in England linked to alcohol, and many of these come from the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society.
“Minimum unit pricing will save lives, cut crime and benefit the public finances. At the same time, pub prices will be left untouched, and moderate drinkers will barely notice the difference under MUP.
“Any delay in implementing MUP in England will only cost lives and lead to unnecessary alcohol-related harm. We urge the Westminster Government to act now.’”
As of Tuesday, the floor price for alcohol in Scotland will be set at 50p per unit, meaning a pint of beer containing two units will have to cost at least £1, while a nine-unit bottle of wine will be a minimum of £4.50.