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Curb your alcoholism – new British policy
Published: 15 February, 2010, 06:36
Edited: 16 February, 2010, 03:11
The British government plans to set a minimum price for alcohol and says bottles and cans must carry health warnings. It's part of an initiative to restrain binge drinking, which has been spiraling out of control.
Firstly, I don't think the British Govt IS planning to raise the price of alcohol in supermarkets. It was talked about but, I suspect pre-election considerations are giving it cold feet. There are really two different problems here: binge drinking in pubs and anti-social behaviour caused by over-consumption of cheap alcohol by youngsters, tho of course the latter is also often a symptom on occasions of the former. The present government reformed Britain's archaic licensing laws partly as a response to the former and to a degree it has had some effect, the idea being that binge drinking is encouraged by restrictive licensing laws (by definition "binge" drinking" occurs quite quickly over a comparatively short space of time. As far as the latter problem is concerned, cheap alcohol in shops is most certainly a cause. Many youngsters are tempted to buy the stuff who would not, I am sure, do so otherwise. I've seen it happen. Astrid claims that the smoking ban in pubs is unpopular: not so: it is now accepted by most and support for it has actually risen. The major factor in the decline in pubs is, as the RT film suggested, yet again, cheap alcohol in shops.
Of course it will most adversely affect those on lower incomes who drink responsibly. And it will make little difference to the hardened drinkers. But what can we expect from the Government here........ or the so called "opposition" Conservatives (More interested in Political Correctness than sorting out the country's problems) and the almost equally useless Liberal Democrats. And who liberalised the opening hours of pubs and clubs in the first place? I can't recall the British public demanding it. Few wish to visit the pubs any longer since the smoking ban........ I don't smoke, but I really object to being told I can't! No, like the vast majority (all?) of new British Policy (several new and unnecessary laws every day and a surveillance society that seems to be growing exponentially) it makes life so miserable that when we are told by the government what we should eat and drink to stay healthy, some might think "why bother?" At times it seems that life here is hardly worth living.