No more cheap booze .

[S10mainly 10]

They shut at six here too, during WW2.

 

No they didnt

[lil-minx92 10]

Just had a quick scan through the research this is based on from Sheffield Uni - PDF here

 

Not a statistician so I've got no idea how accurate their various forecasts from the raw data may or may not be but a couple of key assumptions do leap out.

 

First they don't have any meaningful data about the most harmful drinkers whose consumption is exclusively based on lowest price (eg street drinkers). So they've just extrapolated those results from the info they do have and applied the consumption reduction figures accordingly. Basic common sense should have told them that if a chronic alcoholic is told his tipple of choice now costs twice as much he won't halve his consumption or just have a small glass of Rose with dinner, what he'll do is ask twice as many people for 50p for a bus/phonecall/cup of tea and consume the same amount. What impact this has on the overall financial/health data is hard to tell but when the single most affected group will not in fact be affected it doesn't inspire confidence.

 

Even more glaring is the analysis relating to multibuy offers. Having identified that sales volumes increase during multibuy promotions (duh!) and also noted that they have no way of knowing what if any effect on consumption that has, they've published the data as if they do anyway. Again friend common sense would suggest that someone who likes to share a bottle of Claret of a night with their partner will buy more of their favorite tipple if it's significantly reduced in price if you buy a half case. However it doesn't follow that they'll neck all six bottles in a night as a result and be back for more in the morning, then go back to a single bottle when the promotion ends. So all of the data relating to multibuy promotions is totally meaningless.

 

Not exactly quality research to base policy on.

 

Excellent analysis! AndyGardener for PM!

[Trekker 10]

l say there,s too much boose around....

[lil-minx92 10]

The govt has been steadily increasing the price of tobacco for years. Anybody who wants to smoke still smokes- they just pay more or break the law.

 

Once the 45p (or whatever) minimum price per unit is introduced, expect it to be raised at each budget as they see that it is having no effect on problem drinking. It so easy. They just say clearly its been set too low and here's some research which shows if we increase it to X we can reduce alcohol abuse.

End result- same problem exists, but the plebs fork out more of their hard earned.

 

Alcohol duty will rise, but be absorbed by the retailer out of the extra they have to charge for the product. Net result- the increase in price drips through to the govt.

 

It's a stealth tax

[Mecky 10]

chocolate

cigs

chocolate

booze

chocolate

 

and the next attack is on cheese http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9773000/9773970.stm

[geared 302]

Whoever says the old opening hours don't work clearly can't remember what it used to be like in a busy pub at the weekend.

 

The bell would ring for last orders and everybody would cram to the bar, buying as much as they could drink.

You'd then race down two or three drinks before everyone gets kicked out into the street.

With every drunken yobbo out on the street at once several punch-up's would ensue, while everyone else would que up to get in a nightclub or rush the taxi's and kebab shops.

 

Back then the period from 11pm to 12pm was absolute chaos, it was like the wild west.

Now sure there's people around, but things are more spread out and it's much safer.

 

It's not changed the amount you can drink in a night, you could always go from pub to club to continue drinking.

[S10mainly 10]

That post takes my mind back to Barkers Pool in the late 80s!!!

[Happ Hazzard 10]

I heard some old people talking about the new pricing, they were all outraged by the idea and said that its parents faults for not disciplining their kids properly and letting them go out and get drunk and cause trouble.

[Mecky 10]

I heard some old people talking about the new pricing, they were all outraged by the idea and said that its parents faults for not disciplining their kids properly and letting them go out and get drunk and cause trouble.

 

But hang on, isn't this all about the nation's health and not antisocial behaviour?

[geared 302]

Yes of course, they all care so much about our health

Most of em couldn't identify major organs.

 

That post takes my mind back to Barkers Pool in the late 80s!!!

 

I'm glad it wasn't just my view of things then

 

Did you always get the feeling that the sounding of the bell for last orders was like setting off some kind of obscure race?

[jfish1936 10]

chocolate

cigs

chocolate

booze

chocolate

 

and the next attack is on cheese http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9773000/9773970.stm

 

Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" books play the scenario of a high cheese tax (high tax, not high cheese!) with smuggling of cheese from an independent Wales

[Cyclone 10]

Yes of course, they all care so much about our health

Most of em couldn't identify major organs.

They care about the cost of the NHS.