{"id":18743,"date":"2017-11-15T17:00:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T17:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=18743"},"modified":"2017-11-15T17:00:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T17:00:25","slug":"is-it-the-end-of-ridiculously-cheap-booze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/is-it-the-end-of-ridiculously-cheap-booze\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it the end of ridiculously cheap booze?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, Scotland becomes the first country in the world with a minimum alcohol price.<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Unsplash Images, Stephan King<\/h6>\n

The UK Supreme Court has said raising the price of cheap, high-strength booze will help to tackle Scotland\u2019s \u201cunhealthy relationship with drink\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ministers recommended setting the bar at a 50p-per-unit minimum. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nicola Sturgeon is pleased with the outcome, but the same cannot be said for a majority of the Scottish people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Individual liberty eroded again in Scotland. A government that won’t trust its people is not worthy of their trust.<\/p>\n

\u2014 DJB (@djb_GB) November 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

What does this mean for England?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012, then Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to introduce minimum pricing across England. His plans were unsurprisingly met by fierce opposition from the drinks industry, leaving them under review. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Scottish administration\u2019s legal process was supported by UK government. Home Office has said that \u00a0policies are likely to be reignited in England when they are implemented in Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is said that currently, super-strength cider and own-brand vodka and whiskey can be purchased for as little as 18p per unit of alcohol. A minimum of 50p per unit will see cheap brands, such as K Cider (currently at 20p-per-unit), face a price hike. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, many well-known alcohol brands will not see an increase in price, as the per-unit pricing is already well above the minimum threshold.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The aim of this ruling in Scotland is to reduce the amount that problem drinkers consume, by making the price less appealing to its buyers. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The move is not a tax or duty increase. It is said all extra cash will go to the retailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Scotland, there are potential concerns: \u201cJust have to steal more stuff to pay for the booze. Up go the crime rates.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have little money just now, but once or twice a week I like a beer or cider.\u00a0<\/span>How dare the government decide that I should pay more, because some people have no self control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will cut back on food and heating and rent payments before they’ll cut back on drink. I worry that the people this is supposed to benefit, and their families, will end up suffering more hardship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, some people see the result in positive light:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s a step in the right direction. We are always hearing that alcohol should be treated just like any other drug. Only problem I see is that the Scottish economy is reliant on it\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKids have stopped going to clubs in favour of sitting at home with cheap own brand booze from the supermarkets. Hope it revitalises some high streets\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Words: Olivia Herring | Subbed: Katherine Doherty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, Scotland becomes the first country in the world with a minimum alcohol price. \u00a9 Unsplash Images, Stephan King The UK Supreme Court has said raising the price of cheap, high-strength booze will help to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,67,82],"tags":[390,392,393,394,395,3769,4198,4807,5484,6753],"class_list":["post-18743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-health-fitness","category-lifestyle","tag-alcohol","tag-alcohol-england","tag-alcohol-laws","tag-alcohol-london","tag-alcohol-minimum-pricing-england","tag-london","tag-minimum-pricing","tag-per-unit-minimum","tag-scotland","tag-voice-of-london"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}