MATCHING THE concerns raised from the floor about “teenage boys leaving supermarkets” with crates of special-offer booze and the proliferation of alcopops, it seemed that potential Conservative policy would be targeted at the stereotypical underage drinker.
“Everybody drinks exceptionally heavily before they go out,” said the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs James Brokenshire MP, referencing the terms used by drinkers to describe their consumption “such as preloading and postloading.”
Henry Featherstone, Head of Health and Social Care Unit at Policy Exchange, said: “I don’t think we teach young people how to drink anymore. The Challenge 21 Campaign has been pretty effective but we’ve created a forbidden fruit.”
Aims outlined by centre-right think tank Policy Exchange included increasing taxes on “Ready-To-Drink” alcopop products “without increasing tax on spirits” and cutting the duty on low ABV beer and cider in a bid to curb binge drinking.
These aims rang similar to the recent efforts by Labour, who increased alcohol duty by two per cent above inflation earlier this year. This move was met with criticism from the British Beer and Pub Association who feared job losses as a result of pubs not being able to afford alcohol supplies in the first place.
An audience member claimed that pubs and clubs were the only places where alcohol was supervised, and that supermarkets should take more responsibility over sales, suggesting that sanctions should be enforced by law to prevent alcohol being sold below-cost, so being put on offer to consumers.
Student Direct: Mancunion quizzed James Brokenshire on the potential problems caused by not increasing duty on spirits, given that student drinking culture usually takes place outside of the home as bars offer discounted drinks for double measures.
He said: “We need to look at the licensing process as it is at the moment. The problem is with the promotion and marketing of drinking. Alcohol should be sold as units, not supersized ones [sic].”
At the event last week – chaired by ITN correspondent Simon Israel – there was unanimous agreement over the idea of strengthening the powers of local communities in controlling their own problems in a somewhat devolutionary approach to policing. In Manchester, similar controls exist with Alcohol Control Order zones, such as Wilmslow Road, where people found boozing in public face a fine or confiscation of their drink.
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