Anti-alcohol lobby behind strict new drink limits
A PANEL of experts behind controversial government guidelines warning that all alcohol is unsafe included several anti-drinking lobbyists.
A report to Britain’s chief medical officers slashed the weekly drinking limit for men from 21 to 14 units a week – just seven pints – the same as the limit for women.
The ‘fear inducing’ report also warned women that every glass of wine raised their chances of breast cancer.
Critics say the report has made ‘millions of people who drink moderately feel they should be in the Priory’ – while real problem drinkers will just ignore the message.
While previous reviews have been drawn up by civil servants, the latest report in January was produced by a group of experts that included four people linked to the Institute of Alcohol studies – something it did not mention in the main text. The IAs is a charity which was set up to draw attention to the harm caused by alcohol. It receives 99 per cent of its funding from Alliance House Foundation, which calls for total abstinence. Dame sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, told MPs in February: ‘I would like people to make their choice knowing the issues and do as I do when I reach for my glass of wine and think, “Do I want my glass of wine or do I want to raise my risk of breast cancer?” And I take a decision each time I have a glass.’
Out of 20 experts involved in producing the report, four had links to the IAs. They were: Professor Petra Meier, of sheffield University, who is an expert Hastings,adviser to IAs;of the Professor University Gerardof stirling, an expert adviser to the IAs; Katherine Brown, director of the IAs; Professor Linda Bauld, also of stirling University, a trustee of the IAs. The experts’ declarations of interest did not appear in the main body of the report, but in a separate annexe. Tory MP Philip Davies said yesterday: ‘ The Department of Health are prisoners of the nanny state lobby.’ Miss Brown denied that the IAs had an undue influence on the guidelines. ‘The process was heavily scrutinised and the final decisions were made by the four chief medical officers,’ she told The Times.
The Department of Health stood by the guidelines yesterday. A spokesman said: ‘Drinking alcohol regularly carries a health risk for anyone, but if men and women limit their intake to no more than 14 units a week it keeps the risk of illness such as cancer and liver disease low.’