“While SIBA is supportive of minimum pricing as a tool which could help to redress the current imbalance between beer prices in the pub and the supermarket, we are keen for the health lobby to recognise and support the pub as a safe and responsible drinking environment.

“In most pubs, and certainly in most where cask ales are sold, drinking is part of a social occasion, rather than an end in itself. And the pub is, of course, the only place where you can enjoy a pint of cask beer, which has one of the lowest ABVs of any alcoholic beverage. Our pubs stand in marked contrast to the playparks or shopping precincts where ‘problem’ drinkers can down their bodyweight in cut-price supermarket booze – no ID needed and no licensee suggesting they’ve had enough to drink.

“Minimum pricing is, potentially, a way of protecting our pubs, their customers and, ultimately, the health of the nation. Without the lure of cheap off-trade vodka, consumers would surely start to come back to the pub. Without deeply-discounted cases of lager, draught beer becomes a more attractive proposition.

“If the health lobby is prepared to concede that the pub, and the beers served in it, can be part of the solution to excess drinking, rather than the problem, then we are happy to work with them on the introduction of minimum pricing.”