Minimum pricing is not a magic bullet

The general chat around tackling alcohol-related harm through adopting a minimum pricing policy is an interesting catch-all topic.

Minimum pricing of alcohol will not deter those who wish to get hold of alcohol cheaply. Minimum pricing may sound like a good way of forcing several UK retailers of alcoholic drinks to stop selling alcohol at lower prices, but we are sure to see an explosion in cross-Channel supply, and smuggled alcohol — again.

The latest report by HM Revenue & Customs puts the amount lost from smuggled alcohol, cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco and petrol at nearly £5.5bn, with the share of smuggled alcohol increasing over the past year (2008) from one in 10 to one in eight bottles, and these figures do not account for smuggled beer.

As an advocate of cask ale, it annoys me when the alcohol industry is tarred with one brush. I was amazed the other evening when I caught the news on TV and saw a binge drinking feature that showed wine! Usually it is a pint of beer. The "lager louts" of the '80s and '90s should not tarnish the reputation of the sensible pub and bar-goers who enjoy a few pints of Britain's national drink — cask beer.

There are clearly issues around pricing in certain sectors of our industry that need to be addressed. Cheap alcohol is hugely damaging to brands, and no doubt fuels the problems of underage or excessive drinking, but the publicity being generated by minimum pricing does not suggest who will control it, or explore whether it could become an annual increase.

This has the potential to turn into another form of taxation on alcohol, a levy on businesses and potentially another revenue stream for the Government.

Everyone knows the best place to experience alcohol is in the pub or bar — well-controlled, well-regulated businesses that offer a variety of products for a variety of occasions with people actually talking to each other — perpetuating social interaction and positive peer education over a quiet pint or two.

Hand-crafted products such as British cask beer, I would argue, are too cheap. Sold at the right price they will sustain the licensee's livelihood and keep the producers in business. You cannot get them at home.

As cask ale is unique to the UK, we can use this when marketing ourselves to tourists who flock here to consume all things British. It will reinforce our position as a nation, not of binge drinkers, but citizens who cherish our pubs and the social environment that they provide.