Minimum drinks prices - in England and Wales

Plans for minimum drinks prices in England and Wales could mean spirits priced at least £14 a bottle and some wines around £5.40.

Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson is widely reported as recommending a 50p-a-unit level for alcohol, in a move which may go beyond even what it being proposed in Scotland. As yet the SNP government has not declared what its pricing level would be.

Sir Liam's recommendation is expected to be outlined this week and is bound to provoke a storm of controversy both in and outside Parliament. As well as coming at a time when consumers are suffering in the recession, there are many politicians who believe any attempt to impose minimum pricing would be a breach of European law and open to challenge.

The effect on drinks pricing could be as follows:

- a bottle of 12% abv wine would retail for a minimum of £4.50

- a bottle of 14% abv wine would retail for a minimum of £5.36

- a bottle of 20% abv port or other fortified wine would retail for a minimum of £7.50

- a bottle of 40% abv spirits would retail for a minimum of £14.

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Russell said:

When discussing the taxation of alcohol, John Stuart Mill stated that ‘every increase of cost is a prohibition, to those whose means do not come up to the augmented price.’ Following this logic, minimum drinks pricing is far more prohibitionist than alcohol taxation. Due to revenue concerns, Mill does support the taxation of alcohol up to a point. However, he would not have supported a prohibitionist law that would lead to a decrease in revenue for the State, certainly in terms of opportunity cost. Another Mill quote related to restrictions on alcohol-licensed venues is of note here. Minimum pricing sounds exactly like a policy that would be enacted in “a state of society in which the labouring cla*ses are avowedly treated as children or savages.”

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May 27, 2009
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