Unit Pricing of Alcohol - How will it affect you

[sunny-dave]

I've produced a handy 'look up table' to show the proposed *minimum* prices of various alcoholic beverages.

For instance a pint of beer at 4% = 91p

and a bottle of wine at 13.0% = £3.90

and a bottle of scotch at 40% = £11.20

Use the link below to check on your favourite tipple :

http://oi43.tinypic.com/33y5pw4.jpg

[mrs_overall]

It won't affect me in the slightest.
(Mr O pays for the drinks when we go out)

[douglas9401]

I'd go to that pub. :)

[AB Editor]

How does the sheet help? How would I be expected to use it?

I can see minimum pricing, but does that just get added on to the current costs? Or does some of it get accounted for already?

[daffy654]

I don't drink alcohol on anything like a regular basis, I sometimes buy a bottle of whisky at Christmas.

[chelle7272]

It won't really. I rarely drink at home unless I have friends round, maybe the odd bottle of wine. When I drink it would be at a pub, usually lager, which is £2 - £3.50 a pint depending where I go.

[wolf63]

I don't drink but I can't understand how anyone can actually afford to drink - getting drunk must cost a fortune.

It's 'easy money' for the government.

[sunny-dave]

@Ab-Ed - nothing gets addded to anything - it is merely an attempt by the government to stop supermarkets selling alcohol at very low prices - which they claim will reduce binge drinking ...

[EDDIE51]

Very good but it does'nt look any diffrent from the current prices.
I think this is another example of the government needing to be ''seen to be doing something'' rather than any actual good.
From your table you can still get a bottle of Vodka for well under £15 and get p*ssed before you go out.What needs to be done is to reduce the diffrence between pub prices and supermarket prices, a can of beer in a supermarket will still be only 20% of the pub price for the same amount of drink.

[ummmm]

I've never seen a bottle of 13% wine on sale for less than £3.90.

It'll stop the 3 bottles for a tenner deals that the students love.

[sunny-dave]

It is currently possible to buy three litres of strong 'cider' for around £2 - the proposed minumum pricing will push that up to around £6 and (in theory) reduce consumption.

Can't see it working myself ...

[daffy654]

Most of the alcoholics I have known over the years have been cider drinkers, I wonder how they will afford their tipple after this change?
When I worked in an off licence many years ago our best sellers were cheap cider, 3 for a tenner wine deals and crates of lager.

[weecalf]

Will all this new money made go to helping the people with acohol related problems or is another way to get more money outa us .why does the world revolve around money .Answer to every thing is bung the price up .So does geordie osborn that petrol is bad for us .Give us a break .

[chelle7272]

If they are addicted they will find the money, or an alternative supplier, as with smoking.

[sunny-dave]

I suspect it will do very little to deter binge drinkers, whilst penalising pensioners who like a quiet tipple ....

... no more (reasonable) £2.99 bottles from Aldi

http://www.aldi.co.uk...wine_cellar_18628.htm

[EDDIE51]

Ummm our local corner shop , run by Muslims, sells 2 bottles of 13% wine for £5 ' or 3 litres of 'White lightning' 7.5% cider for £3.25.
My neighbour a care home mangager and 'functioning alcoholic' buys 4 bottles of the wine a day as her ' fix ' so her shopping bill will go up.

[sunny-dave]

To be clear :

THIS IS NOT A NEW TAX - just a proposed minimum price level

The government won't make much (if anything) out of it.

The supermarkets will keep any increase in price - at present there is a strong suspicion that they are selling below cost price and 'cross subsidising' from other goods so in theory the price of other products should fall .... in theory ...

[weecalf]

if the goverment get so much percent from drink then if it rises their share will rise also i would have thought .isnt it strange we dont mind giving the bookie the publican money but when it comes to the goverment we dont like giving them money wonder why

[vulcan]

// The government says it is considering banning buy-one-get-one-free deals but, at the same time, it will allow half-price promotions.//
and the difference is ?

[gb1959]

This new minimum unit price will hardly affect anyone except cider drinkers and the rubbish they sell under the name of cider isn't worth drinking unless you want to get drunk, which is the exact people this tax is targeting. There a very few bottles of wine that are under 4 pounds worth drinking, so your average wine drinker drinking an average 4.50 -5 pound bottle is going to be absolutely no worse off. It will not affect prices in pubs either - so what's the fuss? another none news story really.

[sunny-dave]

The main tax on alcohol is 'duty' - (levied on the alcohol content) - the theory is that the take from this will actually fall as consumption drops (ho ho) and people trade down to lower strength drinks (yea right)

The VAT take will rise (as prices are higher) but only supposedly only enough to compensate for the reduction in duty - the measure is designed to be 'fiscally neutral' ... but I ha' me doots ...