Genuine Concern
Alcohol Concern is being blamed for drink-related scare stories in the press. Jackie Annett investigates.
If all the recent scare stories in the media are to be believed then Britain's streets will soon be littered with alcoholics and underage binge drinkers.
Over the past few weeks, stories that one in every 13 people is dependent on alcohol, children as young as 11 are binge drinkers and more than one million pensioners drink far too much have dominated the press.
But if you scratch beneath the surface you will see that just one organisation is behind all these scare stories: Alcohol Concern.
Alcohol Concern is a national agency on alcohol misuse that was set up in 1984.
Its aims are to reduce the incidents and costs of alcohol-related harm and to increase the range and the quality of the services available to people with alcohol-related problems.
All this sounds honourable enough, but many in the trade say the organisation has over-stepped the mark - feeding scare stories into the media that are based on less than credible research.
We put three influential people in the ring with chief executive Eric Appleby and asked "has the organisation gone too far?"
Roger Protz, beer writer
Roger Protz has had a number of run-ins with Alcohol Concern's main man Eric Appleby over the last few years. He said he thought the biggest problem was that the organisation had too much credibility.
"Every story in the media about alcohol always quotes Alcohol Concern, but many people question how they qualify their data," Mr Protz said. "Eric Appleby seems to believe that pubs are the root of all evil, which is quite absurd.
"People with a serious drink problem drink at home or on a park bench. They don't tend to drink in pubs as it's not that kind of environment," he added.
He said the charity should be shut down because, rather than taking an impartial view, it lays all the blame at the door of pubs and the drinks industry, and fails to recognise that the majority of people drink sensibly.
The organisation paints a pretty disturbed picture of society that is just not true, according to Mr Protz. "Ninety-three per cent of the population drink sensibly. We may have a problem with binge-drinking but I see no reason why this will not be solved when the new Licensing Bill is introduced. Look at the situation in Scotland.
"There is no doubt that the organisation is making a conscious effort to portray the consequences of alcohol as evil. But there are many health benefits of alcohol and the organisation fails to recognise these."
Quentin Rappoport, WSA
Quentin Rappoport is the director of the Wine and Spirit Association. He too has failed to see eye-to-eye with Mr Appleby on a number of occasions.
"Alcohol Concern is an organisation that is quite respected but it does take a very hard line," Mr Rappoport said. "I would sometimes question where it gets its facts from and, in respect to its latest research, which claims that one in every 13 people in the UK is dependent on alcohol, I would question exactly what it means by dependency. Eric Appleby said once that people drink too much and it would be better if everyone halved their consumption. This is ridiculous - why should people who already drink sensibly halve their intake?"
Mr Rappoport said the charity tends to take the extreme view and calls for radical measures when it comes to alcohol consumption. "The worry is that it has a lot of supporters in the House of Commons and the Department of Health. But this draconian view is potentially damaging and we have to be careful and provide people with a balanced view. Someone needs to take the middle ground."
Mark Hastings, BBPA
Last week, Mark Hastings of the British Beer and Pub Association rubbished Alcohol Concern's research that said one in every 13 people is addicted to alcohol. He said this figure was "totally implausible" and asked the charity to back up its findings.
"It has credibility and some of its objectives are honourable and supported by the industry, but it does paint a picture of alcohol abuse in the UK which is totally out of line with reality," Mr Hastings said.
"Rather than sending out scare stories it should provoke sensible debate. Scare stories are potentially damaging to the sector because they only let people see one side. We need to have the real facts and not what is often very subjective information. But we do support it in its aim to reduce alcohol misuse."
Eric Appleby, chief executive, Alcohol Concern responds
He hasn't made many friends in the trade, but how does Mr Appleby feel after these latest attacks? He remains pretty unscathed, remarking that those who have spoken out against him have their own vested interests.
He said despite trade criticisms, the organisation was not made up of teetotallers who are pushing for a society that abstains from alcohol completely.
"Alcohol is part of society but we would like to see people behaving more sensibly about the way they drink and realise the implications it has on themselves and others. We have been basing our research on government statistics. The latest ones were from the Office of National Statistics and are credible," he said.
"All we are doing is highlighting the problems that exist but people like to bury their heads in the sand and only see the good in alcohol."
He said although some people were working hard to promote sensible drinking there was still a long way to go.
"The BBPA has produced guidelines on happy hours but there are still lots of irresponsible promotions going on. We don't take a hard stance but we do aim to cut alcohol-related problems and misuse in the UK."
Related articles:
Claim that one in thirteen is alcoholic ridiculed (6 March 2003)
