Quote:
Boris Johnson condemns David Cameron's minimum alcohol price plans- Boris Johnson has criticised David Cameron's "regressive" plans to bring in a minimum alchohol price, saying it will not stop binge-drinking.
The Mayor of London said the flagship policy championed by the Prime Minister will hit poor people but fail to tackle the problem of excessive drinking.The proposals for a minimum 45p per unit price on alcohol are meant to target those who those who consume excessive amounts of cheap drink and cause anti-social behaviour.
However, Mr Johnson told The Evening Standard that there are better ways of dealing with the blight of drunken revellers on Britain's high streets.
I agree with him. I know of very few people who are drinkers who have done any amount of thinking about it at all that support these plans. This plan is apparently massively unpopular even in Cameron's own Cabinet.
This alcohol pricing plan hits poor people. It hits people who drink moderately at home. It hits people who drink a lot at home but aren't a nuisance to anyone else. It doesn't really affect middle class people, or rich people. The same sorts of people that get hammered in the high street every weekend will still do that. Even from a very left-wing perspective, it's a retrograde and regressive piece of law that punishes the poor.
18 Feb 2013, 12:13 pm
