UK minimum pricing won't affect most drinks

UK minimum pricing won't affect most drinks - the proof?

By: Chris Mercer - 16 February 2011 15:30

Let's be honest, it didn't really need an investigation, did it? At least, no more than a few minutes with a calculator. Still, it's interesting to see just how little the UK Government's minimum pricing plan will affect most alcoholic drinks, according to a new study.

Plans to ban drinks sales at below the sum total of duty tax and value added tax are set to be introduced by the UK Government later this year.

The announcement has already drawn the ire of the pub trade, which quickly picked out that a can of lager, under the new rules, would still only cost GBP0.38. A pint of lager, around 568ml, costs GBP3 on average in pubs and bars.

Now, the Guardian newspaper has published an investigation that, it says, shows that something like one in 4,000 drinks are likely to be affected by the new rule.

From an industry perspective, rather than the actual floor price, what's more worrying about the Government's announcement is the precedent it sets. Ministers are directly linking pricing to alcohol harm.