It says "RT QUESTION MORE" in the header but not a single question has been raised about this anti-alcohol propaganda machine press release. The UK has much higher taxes on alcohol than much of Europe yet the article states "The EU commission has said that it would favor raising taxes on alcohol in Britain". Alcohol consumption is FALLING in the UK yet there is no mention of this anywhere. Alcohol Duty raises far far more in revenue for the Treasury than the cost of NHS treatment of directly related problems. Three questions that could have been raised rather than just hitting the "publish" button.

I believe the drinking problem in the UK goes far deeper than alcohol prices and retail regulation. It has the same root cause as the issue of teenage maternity and juvenile crime, and it has a name: outsourcing. In relocating production out of Britain in search for cheap labor, and in substituting industrial wages with welfare payments for Main Street, the big business and the govt have effectively caused the former British working class to mutate from proletariat to unemployed chavs. No wonder they are bent on drinking and fitba: what else can they do with their lives? No skills, no jobs, no prospects.
The UK may just as well ban alcohol altogether - it won't make a change. Give the people labor and employment back before they degrade entirely.

@ John UK **************** **************** Jo hn - if everything is so bad in the UK, I suggest you re-locate to Russia.

Russia is a country where things that are bad for you (e.g. alcohol, tobacco) are actually cheaper than things that are good for you (e.g. fruits and vegetables, gym membership, etc.). Just compare the prices and you will see it. Fact not fiction! Speaks volumes.

The world is headed towards complete economic chaos. Stock up and drink up safely while you still can.

HAHAHAHAHA. it must be the best way ever of not blaming corner shops where none drinking Muslim s sell alcohol to under aged children!. A practise that has been going on from when i was a child of 13, diference was we called it virgins pish. Now these same shops sell Vodka thats made in any old place with a fast escape route made by Eastern europe migrants and sold by Muslim to pervet children.

legalize proper drugs.. so people will have an alternative

The main way to tackle drunkeness  is to ensure most drinking occurs in pubs run by tenant landlords. Also spirits and drinks in retail outlets should be taxed at a higher level than beer in pubs . If people went back to drinking real ale in pubs with the controls of proper publicans much of the problem drinking would go. Also there should be restricted hours for the retail  sale of  drink. Of course governements will not do this they are too afraid of supermarkets.

salparadise  April 04, 2012, 13:17 quote  &nb sp;  5 
"There's no evidence that raising alcohol prices leads to reduced drinking. The Scandinavian experience shows it makes little difference."
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Quite right: The restrictions either imposed by selling it in limited quantities in special state shops and/or high prices does creates exactly the opposite effect, as they are well known with the most serious alcoholic problems. Also are well known as extreme boozers when go abroad on holidays. The trick is proper education, starting from young age, how to handle alcohol with the right balance – nobody can, or ever had, beat(en) the king alcohol.

Cammeron will have the smile wiped off his smug little face very soon !!you cant fool the people of the uk any longer ,while the Mps get drunk in parliment at the tax payers expence FREE you tax the working man to death !! many are waking up the results will be for all to see very soon!!

Unregistered Tony - No the bars in Westminster are heavily subsidised (by the tax payer naturally!) but not free. Sadly the UK does have a big problem with alcohol (Ironic though talking about this on a Russian website!)which stems from the changes licensing laws back in 2003 which allowed extended opening hours - of course it is natural for alcohol use to balloon in the first ten years immediately after such legislation is implemented but the knock-on effect on the health and emergency services has now become unacceptable to many in the UK at least the British Govt is trying to do something about it, whether it works or not we will have to wait and see. UK IS ARMPIT OF THUGGERY....what does Zionist mean?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Westminster have about 13 FREE bars all serving the best wines, beers and Brandies etc, all at the taxpayers expense?

There's no evidence that raising alcohol prices leads to reduced drinking. The Scandinavian experience shows it makes little difference.

T he real blame lies with  Supermarkets selling alcohol at silly prices (as little as 25p per tin if reports are true) and pubs and clubs doing '£10 on the door and 10 free vodkas when you get in' type offers.
The other side of the issue is the lack of sense of society for many in the UK. There's no sense of shame in being found incoherent on the pavement on a Friday night, or in regularly getting so drunk you can't remember what you did or with whom. This is a deeper issue and cannot be resolved by mere Acts of Parliament.

Come to zionist run uk, its a paradise of civility. We dont even have a govt that makes the drunks pay for their own treatment in hospital when they clog up hospital services on a friday night. they make tax payers pay for the drunks.

If Cameron had even half a brain in his head, he'd realise he NEEDS to keep the British population drunk while he's shafting them for everything they've got. Rome had bread and circuses - Britain presently has alcohol, reality TV and football.

The Government must ask itself whether it's libertarian or libertine at times. Just how much revenue comes from taxes on drink and cigarettes? You could simply get a home brewing kit. Maybe grow your own tobacco as the global warming soars. If, in an ideal world, everyone gave them up, the Government would then lose revenue to help care for an ageing population. Quite a condundrum.  

The perception is that getting drunk is a national sport in the UK. I think that part of the problem was that until relatively recent times purchasing alcohol was restricted to certain times of the day, and bars had limited opening times. People had to drink as much as they could before the bar closed, with the resultant drunkeness. When I last visted the UK I found that bars were open more liberally and the attitude towards drinking was better. I didn't see the level of drunkeness I expected. I'm surprised that the govt. is looking to impose minimum prices on cheap booze, as some of their big donors are brewers and supermarket chain owners. It's most likely just another back-door tax to fill their depleted coffers now that the 'doner-dinners' scam has been rumbled.

Next our hypocritical British Government will introduced a 'Binge Eating' clamp down and on top of that I'm sure they will introduce a 'Walking Tax', a 'Talking Tax', a 'Breathing Tax', a 'L iving Tax' and then to cap it all off a ' Existence Tax'. These Terrorists won't stop until the British population has been bled dry and stopped breathing! These hypocrits in Downing Street now want to introduce 'Behind Close Door Court Proceedings' to sensitive issues! The Criminal Justice Minister is obviously plotting a course for the British Government to conceal the truth as this is just another game so they can legitimatly accuse other innocent people of wrong doing, just like they did in 7/7! They keep telling us they want to promote openess and transparencie, yet they contradict themselves when they say they want to monitor us with their privacy law but on the otherhand want to conceal sensitive issues from the public. DOWNING STREET YOUR A LAUGHING STOCK TO THE POLITICAL SYSTEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!&nb sp;