'Government considers fining parents of boozing kids'

The Prime Minister has held crisis talks at No 10 to tackle Britain's binge-drinking epidemic. Controversial measures discussed at the private meeting will include bans on outdoor alcohol advertising within a certain distance of schools, as well as on drinks advertising on TV before the watershed. University students face a clampdown on drinks promotions, and parents will be put under pressure to set a good example by drinking responsibly in the home. Parents of children caught drinking may be subject to fixed-penalty fines. - Independent On Sunday​

Britain is set for a booze bonanza this Christmas as supermarkets slash the price of lager and beer. Cans of Carling and Boddingtons can be snapped up for as little as 37p as part of a multi-pack at supermarket giant Asda. Cider lovers are being lured with big bottles of Magners for just over a £1.And bottles of Stella, Becks and Carlsberg are only 40p each in multi-packs at Morrisons. A spokesman for Asda said: "People at Christmas can enjoy a drink at absolutely rockbottom prices. We are having to compete with all our rivals who are also lowering their prices for alcohol." - Sunday People​

The number of people drinking dangerous levels of alcohol is far greater than was previously estimated, partly because of larger measures being served in pubs and restaurants, a government report is expected to show. A study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is understood to have found that government researchers and the public have underestimated the amount of alcohol consumed because average servings of some drinks in pubs and restaurants, such as wine, have almost doubled. When the guidance was introduced 20 years ago, a glass of wine was considered to contain a single unit of alcohol. Then the average serving was 125ml and the alcohol strength was about 9% by volume. Now pubs serve 250ml measures. Wine is often 14% alcohol or more, which means a drinker could consume 3½ units in one glass. - Sunday Times​

Booze companies face an advertising ban on afternoon telly after Children's Secretary Ed Balls discovered that more drink ads are screened between 4-6pm than later in the evening. If the Minister discovers they are being targeted at kids they could be taken off our screens until after the 9pm watershed. Mr Balls will also be investigating whether alcohol is too cheap. If a bottle of Scotch whisky had kept pace with other prices over the last 60 years it would now cost £50. When booze taxes were cut by 40 per cent in Finland health problems soared for drinkers. Latest figures show that 13 children a DAY are being admitted to hospital there because of alcohol misuse. - Sunday People​

Irvine Welsh has called on politicians to take a tougher stance in tackling the UK's binge-drinking culture in which children are being "indoctrinated into believing that alcohol is like lemonade". The Trainspotting​ author says the UK government should consider introducing measures to reduce the availability of alcohol, including increasing prices and raising the legal drinking age. He believes that drinking alcohol is a "basic human right", but argued alcohol has now wrongly become a ubiquitous factor in our lives and can be problematic as a "big gateway" to illegal drug use. Welsh made his comments during an event in Edinburgh last week organised by the Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), a group formed by the country's royal medical colleges.- Sunday Herald​