Sutcliffe: 'Minimum pricing would be severe step'

Licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe has warned MPs that introducing a minimum price for alcohol would be a "severe" step for the government to take.

Speaking today at the Beer Group's inquiry into community pubs, Sutcliffe reiterated that any government action on the issue depends on the soon-to-be-published Sheffield University review into pricing and promotion.

"For the government to interfere in the market is a severe step and not something we would do on a light basis," he said.

Earlier Tory MP Richard Benyon told Sutcliffe he had seen a can of own-brand lager available for 26p in the off-trade. "This is having a negative effect across the board," he said.

On the issue of alcohol duty hikes and the hope of stopping the above inflation rises over the next four years, Sutcliffe said: "There have been decisions in the past that have changed because of representations."

However, he hit out at the industry for not "speaking as one voice", adding that its concerns would "come across a lot stronger" if this was the case.

Sutcliffe also warned community pubs that it was "not the government's job to keep them open". "It's up to us to help the successful ones spread the message to others," he told the six MPs at the session.

On the smoking ban, the licensing minister acknowledged its impact on the trade, but later claimed: "Most of the industry supported the ban".

Earlier, during the final evidence session of the delayed inquiry into the future of community pubs, Sutcliffe denied that the Licensing Act was about creating a "café culture" in Britain.

He said it was "the spin that was put on the idea of the Licensing Act".

"I believe the Licensing Act has actually helped the sector," he said.

He also committed to reviewing the amount of red tape that surrounds the industry.

The inquiry is expected to report its findings in September.