'Ex-Health Secretary calls for higher alcohol duty to combat booze abuse'

Patricia Hewitt, Health Secretary from 2005 to 2007, said she had pleaded with the Treasury for higher alcohol duty "at every Budget" and felt its time had now come. "Alcohol in real terms is a great deal cheaper than it was 20 years ago and when young people have so much more money to spend, there's no doubt it is a contributing factor," she said. "Although no Chancellor likes to make themselves unpopular by putting up taxation on alcohol, I think if the public see it as part of a co-ordinated attempt to reduce alcohol abuse and the antisocial behaviour that goes with it, then there would be public support." - Observer​

Supermarkets and off-licences are joining forces with council officials to tackle street drinking by taking super-strength lager and cider off their shelves. Shops including Tesco, Waitrose, Budgens, Londis and Threshers have agreed to stop selling Carlsberg Special Brew, Tennent's Extra and Diamond White in an attempt to deter street drinkers and combat associated problems such as begging and drug dealing. - Independent On Sunday​

Women in their thirties and forties are to be targeted in a government anti-drinking advertising campaign featuring graphic warnings that their behaviour could lead to breast cancer or liver failure. Ministers have approved the controversial move in a bid to try to persuade women, especially middle-aged wine drinkers, to cut down amid evidence that their excessive consumption is wrecking their health. - Observer​

Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, has launched an outspoken attack on police and ministers for trying to "entrap" underage drinkers in bars. Martin rubbished high-profile campaigns to drive teenagers out of bars as misguided "showboating" which put youngsters at greater risk by leaving them to drink unsupervised in the streets and at parties. Martin's comments provoked an angry reaction from the Scottish Government and alcohol-awareness charities, who insisted the law must be strictly enforced if the nation's binge-drinking problem is to be challenged. - Scotland On Sunday​

More than 1,000 children under the age of 14 are being admitted to hospital every year as a result of binge drinking, new figures show. Experts said that the alarming figures showed a "time bomb" facing the country, warning that patients as young as 20 are being diagnosed with irreversible liver damage. Doctors said that without urgent action the spread of drinking among Britain's children would "destroy a generation". - Sunday Telegraph​

Experts predict that more of Britain's 60,000 public houses will close and be turned into homes due to the smoking ban and the soaring price of a pint. As many as 56 pubs are shutting their doors every month according to research by the Campaign for Real Ale and more than 1,000 are under threat. The idea of snapping up a disused public house is becoming as popular as barn and church conversions. - Sunday Mirror​

Two pubs close each day as cheap supermarket beer, high taxes and property prices threaten the traditional "local". Four-fifths of the closures are in towns but many country pubs are also suffering as cuts in bus services have added to drink-drive laws and other factors keeping drinkers at home. Mike Benner, chief executive of the Campaign For Real Ale, said: "There is nothing to replace a well-run pub. Yet they are being lost at an incredible rate." High demand for housing has tempted many owners to sell to developers, who often turn pubs into flats. - Sunday Telegraph​

Roger Carr, the chairman of Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), will step back from his role as an adviser to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) while the private equity firm considers a takeover bid for the troubled pub group. The Sunday Telegraph has learned that KKR has hired bankers at Credit Suisse to evaluate a potential offer for M&B, which is conducting a review of its business that may lead to a sale or break-up. Carr, who advises KKR on its investments, intends to exclude himself from discussions at KKR about M&B to avoid any potential conflict of interest, according to people familiar with the process. - Sunday Telegraph​