JUST before Christmas I had the pleasure of welcoming a little piece of Horsham to Westminster – the Strangers bar in the House of Commons had agreed to my request to have W.J. King and Co's Horsham Best Bitter as their guest ale.
I enjoyed a pint or two with my colleagues – truly one of life's simple pleasures!
Unfortunately, alcohol is not enjoyed in the same way by a minority of people in this country and we have a very real problem of increasing levels of under-age d
rinking, binge drinking – with the associated anti-social behaviour – and an alarming rise in liver disease due to excessive alcohol consumption.
And so this means that we have to explore ways of tackling the behaviour of this minority. A solution has to be found that won't penalise the vast majority of us who enjoy drinking alcohol but enjoy drinking it sensibly.
In our opinion, this Labour Government's approach to alcohol taxation has failed – duty on problem drinks has fallen in real terms over recent years, making them more affordable than ever before. And in the Budget there is just a crude across the board increase that hits everyone – yet another stealth tax increase.
By problem drinks, we especially mean super-strength lager and cider – not the usual tipples enjoyed in houses around Horsham on a Friday night!
So, last week, George Osborne announced our plans to tackle the problem. Key elements include increasing the duty on problem drinks, reducing the tax on low strength beer and cider and leaving 90 per cent of wines, spirits, beers and ciders completely unaffected.
We strongly believe there should be no overall increase in revenue from alcohol taxation – binge drinking should not be used as an excuse for yet another stealth tax.
These plans would make a real difference to the behaviour of people who currently binge drink and cause mayhem in our town centres each and every weekend and it would also have an impact on their longer-term health – something that would be of enormous benefit to the NHS and the public purse.
But crucially, our proposals would not adversely impact the vast majority of sensible drinkers.
These plans have been welcomed by medics, Alcohol Concern and the alcohol industry but I would welcome comments from County Times readers. What are your experiences of the drinking habits of a minority and do you think anything else can be done to tackle the problem head-on?
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