Home Office minister: 'We're not anti-alcohol'

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker has denied the government is waging a war on alcohol in an exclusive interview with The Publican​.

Coaker, who has overseen the introduction of alcohol disorder zones and the 'selling to drunks' campaign in the past year, claims the government wants to work with the pub industry, rather than against it, to target problems surrounding alcohol.

"The licensed trade is an integral part of the social fabric of this country. There are problems with underage drinking, binge-drinking and people drinking too much in general, but we want to work together to target these problems," he declared.

"The government is not being hypocritical in saying this - it is not against alcohol, it is against the abuse of alcohol."

Coaker praised pubs for working hard to cut underage sales - and acknowledged that supermarkets were a big part of the problem.

"We should recognise the progress that has been made on underage sales," continued Coaker.

"The latest figures show there has been a significant reduction and the on-trade has played an important part in that."

Speaking following the second meeting of The Publican Directors Club, held in association with Coca-Cola Enterprises in London last night, Coaker said he had listened to the concerns of the on-trade at the event.

"A number of people have said there's not a level playing field with the supermarkets - clearly that is something we will be looking at as part of the review of alcohol pricing and promotions," he said.

Phase two of the review, carried out by the University of Sheffield and KPMG, is due to be published this autumn.

Coaker said he would not rule out a repeat of the much-criticised 'selling to drunks' campaign this Christmas - despite the tiny number of fines handed out last year - "if we feel it's necessary".

But he said that pubs should not fear alcohol disorder zones - which see pubs in designated areas asked to pay towards the cost of policing them - as they would only ever be implemented as "a very last resort".