Alcohol Pricing in Wales was introduced on Monday. Some early thoughts are below. In Cardiff for a few days I stopped by Lidl in Splott to check the impact.
Lidl is only the drinks outlet that Ive seen actively mentioning the change. The pricing measure is not aimed at beer drinkers particularly but the price for a bottle of St Austell Proper Job still seems perfectly reasonable to me. Its not a label that will trouble the Portman Group either
The Welsh Government has introduced minimum alcohol pricing today, setting the minimum price of 50p a unit.
The Health Minister Vaughan Gething is clear there will be a positive health impact
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51674263
It’s Wales so dont expect most of the London based media to notice even though it is a much debated issue.
Usually heavy drinking stories which appear in the print media are accompanied by pints of beer. It is of course not a beer issue at all, but relates to very strong ‘industrial’ as opposed to craft ciders liked and consumed by many and cheap wine.
Without doubt there is a class issue involved since a good deal of heavy drinking is to be found amongst the better off who wont be troubled by this.
Its interesting to note however that the matter is focused around health impact rather than the (undoubted) difference between pub and supermarket prices.
Even so there is an issue behind heavy drinking in drinks industry promotions and the conditions in people’s lives that may lead them to it,
All that said the matter remains controversial but on balance its good to see a Labour Government intervening to see what might work. I wouldnt be too surprised if Boris Johnson would think at least privately that if someone wants to make themselves ill through drink, well so what?
As for discerning drinkers like myself no doubt I’ll still be paying a fiver for a third of a pint of a imperial stout at the end of the night. I’d like to see a return of the Assize of Ale and a maximum pricing law…
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