Alcohol
Vice is vanishing from Britain
In this week’s issue of the Spectator, Leo McKinstry argues that Britain is dropping all its most harmful habits. Here is an excerpt: ‘According to the pessimistic narrative of national decline, Britain… Continue reading
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John Hayes: Muslims are right about Britain
John Hayes, the prime minister’s latest tribune, achieved some fame or infamy, depending on your view, when he wrote the following article for the Spectator on 6 August 2005, a… Continue reading
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Expected U-turn on minimum alcohol pricing is victory for May and relief for Osborne
The government’s expected U-turn on a minimum price for alcohol avoids a Cabinet revolt which would have included Home Secretary Theresa May. It’s good timing for May as she enjoys… Continue reading
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Is David Cameron about to drop minimum alcohol pricing?
James Chapman reports today that plans for a minimum unit price for alcohol are set to be dropped. This is welcome news. The policy always promised to simply drive up… Continue reading
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What shall we do with the drunken British?
Being in government has forced the Liberal Democrats to decide whether they are liberal in the British sense of the word, or in the American, statist sense. Nick Clegg leans… Continue reading
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Why is the government so confident minimum alcohol pricing will work?
Given the decidedly mixed record of minimum alcohol pricing around the world, why is the government so sure it will work in Britain? The figures it quotes are certainly striking:… Continue reading
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Imposing a minimum price for alcohol will leave Cameron with a political hangover
On Monday, the government is set to announce its alcohol strategy. It is expected that this will call for a minimum unit price of 40p. As Graham Wilson reports in… Continue reading
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Interview – Patrick Hennessey, Kandak: Fighting with the Afghans
“It always struck me that it was a much easier war to support the closer you got to it,” says Patrick Hennessey of the war in Afghanistan. Hennessey, who served… Continue reading
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Cameron’s minimum pricing plan is politically risky
David Cameron’s plan for a minimum price for alcohol is one that several of his Cabinet colleagues, including the Health Secretary, have grave reservations about. But the Prime Minister’s personal… Continue reading
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In defence of Special Brew
The Prime Minister today introduces plans for minimum pricing on alcohol. In this week’s Spectator, Leo McKinstry mounts a defence of Special Brew, the tipple of Kingsley Amis and Churchill.… Continue reading
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How to implement a minimum price for alcohol
Pete posted earlier on the Prime Minister’s latest intervention on the issue of problem drinking. The new proposals — like a greater police presence in A&Es, and ‘drunk tanks’, special units where… Continue reading
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Minimum pricing, maximum controversy
Just because there’s no PMQs today, it doesn’t mean you won’t hear from David Cameron. The Prime Minister is readying his anti-booze cruise once again, and taking it on tour… Continue reading
42 CommentsA minimum price for alcohol will have a high political cost
The Telegraph reports today that the Prime Minister has asked for work to be done across Whitehall on how a minimum price for alcohol could be set. As the paper’s… Continue reading
69 CommentsTo combat binge drinking among the young, make it easier for people to drink under-age in pubs
Mary Ann Sieghart has a great piece in the Independent today about how, inadvertently, we have designed a system that almost encourages young people to drink irresponsibly. As she argues,… Continue reading
40 CommentsCameron devolves the tricky issue of alcohol pricing
Politicians often get nervous around alcohol – and not just because, in these straitened times, a glass of champagne can broadcast the wrong image. No, the real concern is the… Continue reading
22 CommentsBeating up the ASBO
Theresa May has taken the truncheon to the previous government’s rather singular anti-social behaviour policy. The ASBO, of which more than half were ignored in 2008, will be a thing… Continue reading
31 CommentsHere’s to a boozy New Year
Happy New Year – and have a drink! That’s the message from the new year issue of The Spectator, where Leah McLaren has written a superb piece answering the Liam… Continue reading
32 CommentsRepairing the broken society
One line from the Sunday papers is still haunting me today. In the Mail on Sunday, Phillip Blond wrote that, “one million children have alcohol-addicted parents”. Think about that for… Continue reading
33 Comments