26 October 2017
Church responds to government alcohol announcement
Paul Morrison, policy adviser for the Methodist Church inBritain, said: "Today the government has announced that it will banbelow-cost alcohol sales. This is a pale reflection of the MinimumUnit Pricing policy, which the government originally committedto.
"The government's own research indicates that today's policy is40 times less effective than Minimum Unit Pricing. The sameresearch judged today's policy to be so ineffective as to have"negligible" impact on the harm caused by alcohol.
"We are pleased that the government recognises that this is aserious problem that costs the economy £21 billion a year and ruinsmany lives. We fear, however, that the government's advice iscorrect and that this policy will have a "negligible" effect".
"We urge the government to take the brave step of introducingMinimum Unit Pricing. A genuinely effective policy, backed by themedical profession, the research community, as well as by analliance of churches. The problems caused in society by alcoholdemand more than merely a negligible solution."
A