Condemning the Abandonment of Alcohol Duty
21 Mar 2014
Diane Abbott MP today condemned the government’s announcement that it was scrapping the alcohol escalator and reducing beer duty. She said “This is a crude attempt to go after the Nigel Farage vote. By cutting the price of spirits, wine and beer the government has signaled that it has abandoned any serious effort to tackle alcohol-related harm. Together with the u-turn on plans to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol the Government is making it clear that the health of the nation is going to be sacrificed for short-term political considerations. The government seems to have forgotten that the costs of alcohol-related harm are £20 billion in England alone, of which £2 billion is spent by the NHS. The economic and public health cases for tackling alcohol abuse are clear but the government is failing in its duty.”back ⇢