Tories: Treble tax on alcopops

The Conservatives have unveiled plans to treble tax on alcopops and high strength beers and ciders.

But the extra money raised would be used to cut duty on lower strength beers and cider.

Wines, spirits and 90% of beer and cider consumed in Britain would be unaffected.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said the aim of the package was to discourage young, binge drinkers, and that "the vast majority of law abiding, responsible drinkers"​ would not be hit.

Under the plans a 275ml bottle of alcopop would cost 50p more, a 500ml can of super strength beer and cider would cost 32p more while a three-litre bottle of 8.5% abv cider would increase by £1.25.

In contrast, duty on cider below 3% abv would be halved and significantly reduced on beer below 2.5% abv.

Osborne said similar measures had been successful in Germany and Austria and the aim was to cut the consumption of the targeted drinks by 50%.

Key points in the alcohol tax package are:

• Duty increase on problem drinks - alcopops, strong beer and strong cider• Tax cut for low strength beer and cider• No overall increase in revenues from alcohol taxation• Wines, spirits and 90% of beer and cider consumed in Britain are unaffected• UK's most popular beers and ciders, including Carling, John Smiths, Guinness, Stella Artois, Strongbow and Magners will not be affected

Binge drinkers​

"All the conversations I have had over the last year with police officers, supermarkets and those whose lives are made miserable by the behaviour of binge drinkers have convinced me that we need to take targeted action against the super-strength drinks and alcopops favoured by young drinkers,"​ he said.

"This package put forward by the Conservative Party today does not hit the vast majority of law abiding, responsible drinkers. ​

"Instead, we are making it much more expensive to buy super-strength lagers, ciders and alcopops, and using the extra revenue to cut taxes on low alcohol drinks.

"This is because we believe binge drinking should not be used as an excuse for yet more stealth taxes."