Govt medical adviser suggests minimum price for alcohol

Sunday, 15 March 2009 12:00 AM

The government top medical adviser, Sir Liam Donaldson, has prepared a proposal that could see a minimum price being imposed on many alcoholic drinks.

Under the plans, no alcoholic drink could be sold for less than 50 pence per unit meaning that a bottle of wine would cost more than £4 and a pint of beer would cost over £1.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said such action was being taken as it was clear that excessive drinking harmed people's health.

However, she added that any decision made by the government would take into account the current economic climate.

She said: "It would be wrong to make sweeping changes without consideration of all the options suggested by our research published in December.

"We need to do more work on this to make sure any action we take is appropriate, fair and effective."

The Portman Group, the body set up by the drinks industry to promote sensible drinking, said the proposals would not help curb binge drinking.

The body's chief executive, David Poley, told The Sunday Telegraph: "This would hit the pockets of hard-working families who are already struggling to make ends meet, and it would not deter those people who drink to get drunk."

The full findings of Sir Liam's report will be published tomorrow.

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