Alcohol prices: Theresa May takes lead as government braces for legal fight

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/23/alcohol-prices-theresa-may

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It may seem curious that the Commons announcement of the biggest public health intervention since the ban on smoking was left to be made by the home secretary, Theresa May, rather than the health secretary, Andrew Lansley.

But then what is known in Whitehall as the "Lansley sulk" over his 18-month opposition to the policy of setting a minimum price for alcohol meant he was never going to stand up in parliament to defend it.

Indeed he was still waving the flag of rebellion on the eve of the announcement by issuing a press release insisting that voluntary action by the drinks industry could lead to 1,000 fewer deaths each year by 2015 and implying that nudging rather than nannying the public was the right way to tackle Britain's binge drinking culture.

But the decision – which it is believed was taken a fortnight ago – that May should lead on the publication of the government's long-delayed alcohol strategy is important for another strategic reason.

Ministers are only too well aware that the drinks industry is likely to follow the example of the tobacco lobby and launch a legal challenge to the policy under EU competition policy. For the government to defeat that challenge in the European court of justice, it will have to prove that any such disruption of the free market is justified by a public policy objective, and that is far more likely to succeed if it is seen to be to tackling crime and disorder and not simply improving public health.

There was little new in May's announcement. Many of the criminal justice measures, such as the late-night levy, under which businesses that sell alcohol late into the night contribute to the costs of late-night policing, were first put out to public consultation in July 2010.

That consultation showed that everyone was in favour of such a levy up to the point when those who would have to pay it discovered they could face a bill of up to £4,400 a year.

The proposal to introduce a minimum 40p-a-unit price floor has already been widely canvassed, with doctors and health groups pressing hard for a 50p minimum. Indeed, the only new announcement made by the home secretary was the five sites for the "sobriety bracelet" pilot schemes to be run this summer.

In addition to the small 300-strong pilot in Westminster championed by Boris Johnson, the schemes will take place in St Helens, Hull, Plymouth and Cardiff. May also confirmed that the supermarket ban on multi-buy promotions such as buy one, get one free would not apply to pubs, bars and restaurants.

David Cameron and May have both highlighted their claim that a minimum price for alcohol could lead to 50,000 fewer offences each year and 900 fewer alcohol-related deaths. But this is marginal against a crime rate of 4 million offences a year, and those who drink themselves to death represent a health issue, not a criminal justice one.

It is no wonder the home secretary was reduced to declaring war on the "tide of cheap alcohol", "irresponsible businesses" and "dangerous drinkers" who "pre-load" at home before they go out for the evening.

Labour pointed out that there had been only three Commons statements on a Friday in the last 10 years and each involved a national emergency. One was on Iraq, the second on Libya and the third on swine flu. The alcohol strategy was brought forward from Monday. The national emergency couldn't have been the need to head off yet another day of bad budget headlines, could it?