Minimum alcohol price ruled out

HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday ruled out minimum pricing for alcohol.

He said he was against ‘punishing the masses for the problems that only a minority have’.

Mr Hancock admitted he enjoys the occasional ‘nice pint’ and said it was ‘perfectly healthy’ for people to drink in line with national guidelines. He has repeatedly suggested that stopping people from slipping into poor health is key to the NHS’s future. Heavy drinkers, smokers and the overweight are to be targeted by adverts. Mr Hancock said he would ‘not rule out’ using social media to target these patients.

He added: ‘Just as the NHS has a responsibility to look after all of us, everyone has a responsibility to the NHS to look after themselves.’