Does this proposed minimum 45p per unit of alcohol mean....

...The House of Commons subsidised bar will be scrapped and fall in line since they had an MP involved ina drunken brawl there not so long ago resulting in the Police being called? No? Thought not!

Load of nonsense. Heavy drinking is just part of Northern European culture and you will not price it out of existence. All that will happen is that Premium brands will want t differentiate from the budget base price and so will put up their prices accordingly. Result!?- Govt gets more tax revenue and Mr average drinker pays through the nose.

Annoyingly when in Italy I can buy decent wine for just over a Euro a bottle (Eurospin or Lidl) and Decent Gin for 4 euros a bottle. Grappa from 5 euros (around 7 euros upwards will save your eyesight though) and 'Girlie' liquers like Amaretto 3.99 euros (Lidl) - UK Lidl the same bottle costs £9.99. You dont see loads of drunks and fights in the evenings either in most parts of Italy.

 

Costs 5.8 million a year to subsidise the bars and restaurants in the commons - few police, nurses salaries there.

 

Hells bells - That's a lot of Pimms and G&Ts dontcha know??

 

It won't affect the vast majority of pubs and bars mate, even the subsidised House of Commons ones. A pint of Carling (for example) is 2.3 units and at 45p a unit, you would have to be selling it at less than £1.03 a pint to fall foul of the proposed new laws. Doubt that it's anywhere near that cheap, even in Westminster. For once it's not aimed at the pubs, it's aimed at supermarkets etc.

 

Doesn't this fly in the face of the conservatives mantra of free and unregulated trade in an unfettered market place, or does that only apply to banks and the city. Also, isn't price fixing against the European law of free trade.

 

It's a tough blow for the tramps.

 

But then again, the Italians are hardly known for their nouse when it comes to fighting, are they?