Tory backbencher Andrew Griffiths spoke during a debate on alcohol taxation secured by Sarah Wollaston, the GP turned MP.

Mr Griffiths, chairman of the parliamentary beer group, which lobbies the Government to support the brewing industry, believes cheap drink prices in supermarkets are encouraging irresponsible drinking and destroying community pubs.

He told the debate: “Twenty years ago, the price in a supermarket and the price in a pub were much the same at about 75p a pint.

“Today a pint costs £3.10, £3.20 or £3.30 in a pub, whereas in a supermarket it remains at about 70p or 80p.

“That has encouraged people to drink more and more at home and discouraged them from drinking in a safe, supervised environment such as the community pub that is at the heart of many of our towns and villages.”

Mr Griffiths argued the tax system, which sees far higher duty levied on beer than most other alcohol, including cider and spirits, needed to be re-balanced.

He said: “The tax system encourages the strength of wine to increase dramatically and the drink of choice of young people is now vodka.

“It seems completely incongruous that the four per cent duty paid on a pint of beer is twice that paid on cider at exactly the same strength.”

Dr Wollaston called for an Act of Parliament to regulate the price of alcohol. She suggested England could followScotland’s lead in making it illegal for shops to sell booze for below 45p per unit.

She said: “I have watched many of my former patients die as a result of alcohol.

We are witnessing an unprecedented rise in hospital admissions and deaths from alcohol-related liver disease.

“Alcohol is the single largest cause of mortality in young people, accounting for one in four deaths among 15 to 24-yearolds, far more than die as a result of knife crime.

“The full costs are hard to quantify, but the bill runs to at least £20 billion a year.”

Taken from:  The Burton Mail

By Josh Taylor